While the flower beds are thriving, I do feel like the veg beds are somewhat behind.
I cleared out the last of the lettuce, so the cucumbers should start picking up now that they’ll get more light.
The pumpkin/squash bed is another story. You’ll recall I started out with some decent white pumpkin and buttercup squash seedlings…. well not one of them made it.
So I bought a “jackolantern” seedling (on the far left) and a couple of bird house gourd seedlings (two middle). As you can see, the two goourds are doing great, but that pumpkin is barely hanging on. The other week, I got some acorn squash seedlings on clearance – there were three in the pack…. and that one on the right was the weakest of them. And it’s the only one that survived.
Raspberries have been surprisingly sparse this year. This was the biggest harvest – normally I’m lucky if I get a couple a day. The fall crop is always bigger, so there’s more coming.. but the summer round has been a little dissapointing.
This is all I have to show for swiss chard! Pretty darn pitiful – last year this pot was overflowing!
But it’s not all bad news. (Thankfully)
The laundry basket potato experiment may be coming to an end soon – those plants are starting to look fairly yellow. I’ll give it at least another week though. I’m not optimistic that there’s going to be TONNES of potatoes in there though… I made the mistake of not using straw around the sides, so it’s been hard to keep it well watered with out the soil just running out those holes…. a note for next year.
Both carrot beds are looking nice and robust – even the ones that I planted from starts!
The peas have become too much for the poor boxes to handle! I’m enjoying a bowl full of fresh peas daily!
But the most exciting thing in the garden right now is my melons!
This is the same melon… the first picture taken on Monday, the second on Friday! They do grow fast once they get growing!
And we have a second one on the step above! Mr. Toad is probably going to have to move over soon!
And I’m counting the days until these beauties ripen! I’ve got a pile of jam jars with their name on it!
Wandering Cat Studio 
HI Val,
They are not all liking the heat up here. Of course I would expect the melons to love it. The images are impressive with how much they take off. My beans are beyond pathetic. I called it a fail, let a few and planted flowers , annuals, instead. My little antique wagon of of pots is coming along nicely. I will cheat today and add miracle gro pellets. I dont like the mixing of the liquid, avoiding the leaves, type product. Thats what fireman brought home the other day. I’ll use it eventually, on the lawn on think.
My mini terrariums are doing great. Im so enjoying them. The hummingbird is hydrating for our expected high heat and humidity today. My puppy frozen are in the freezer. I make Rio treats freezing yogurt, bananas, rasperberries and applesauce. Sometimes it is just peanut butter and applesauce. I freeze them in short plastic recyclables before I recycle them . Im very into double use of plastic around here. The peanut butter is PB2.
Great posts Val. I am knitting with cotton. Not my favorite but I will love wearing it.
Kathy b
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Gardening really is a crap shoot every year. I don’t do nearly the amount of gardening you do, but I see changes every year in how our things grow.
I tried cherry tomatoes this year. The jury is still out on how successful that will be.
https://1justd2me.blogspot.com
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Yay for the peas!
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The heat has been brutal on gardens. Most years there are some successes and some failures. Whatever you get for produce is a plus!
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Those melons are exciting! We’re just starting melon season here at the Farmer’s Market and I’ve yet to try a watermelon but I did get a cantaloupe this week. It wasn’t terrible but it wasn’t a sweet as I expected for being locally grown. The corn this year has been amazing. It must love the heat.
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I hope you keep getting the produce–it should pick up for August!
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