Phenomenal Growth for a Cool July

We had some amazing growth this week, which I would never have imagined! Let me take you around the garden to look at some of it. First, I noticed right away that the beans had doubled in size in a matter of days. I had pruned/trimmed the basil and dill, right next to the beans, just a day or two ago, and the beans were not this thick/tall as they are today. 

Beans twice as tall as a few days ago.

Baby Beans are Forming

The thyme is starting to pick up, as well. Nothing that spectacular, but it's growing and making an impression with it's dark green color. 

Thyme it filling in.

The corn, I kid you not, grew 10 to 12 inches in less than a week! The tallest corn is now 60" tall when it was about 50" just a few days ago. The "ear" sprouts are showing up too, but I didn't think to get photos of that. 

4-5ft Corn

Nice full tassels

Not that they are "my" crop or anything that I did, but the blackberries are thick as can be this year. We've had, actually, perfect conditions for wild blackberries, with temps in the 70s, humid days and cool nights. We are going to have a bumper crop of berries. And they are not even done flowering yet. So that harvest may last well into August.

Thick crop of wild blackberries	More berries
Some are still flowering

The potatoes took a huge wilt today with the warmer sunshine. Harvest is still planned for the last weekend of July - August 1. 

Wilting Potatoes

Tomato blossoms are finally taking hold and creating some nice tomatoes.  The Purple Cherokee are a bit ugly in shape, but I think they will be a nice size when ripe. The Sungold have a lot of cherry tomatoes on it. The Chocolate Cherry plant is, so, so with tomatoes.  Not a lot, but there's still time. The German finally has its first fruit.  I think I see a few more potential ones, but they could be fakes because of the way the blossoms are on this plant. Sorry for the blur. The wind out of the west was a bit blustery today.

First German Tomato	Some Purple Cherokee Tomatoes
Another Purple Cherokee tomato	Tomato plants lined up in the warm sunshine

I never realized how pretty the Walla Walla Sweet Onion blossoms could be. Enjoying the beauty while waiting for it to die so that I can harvest the seeds for next year.

Walla Walla Sweet Onion Blossom

Our temps finally hit 85 today. That's a decent warm temp for the garden.  I pulled the lettuce out of the sun, into the shade to protect it from burning.

Fertilize the Baby Cukes

On cucumber plants, there are two genders of flowers; male and female.  Normally, in the summer months, there are a lot of bees and bugs that can help to pollinate the flowers. But, unfortunately, some summers we have fewer bugs, pests, bees, etc. This year, is one of those summers. To ensure that we get as many cucumber fruit as possible, I need to help the process along.  With a dry cotton swab/Q-tip in hand, I gather some pollen from the male flower and then place that same swab in the female flower. 

It is super easy to tell the males from the female flowers on cucumbers. The male is merely a flower on the end of a stem, but a female is a flower on the end of a baby cucumber. Dip the swab all the way into the base of the male flower and twirl it once, then do the exact same to the female, and voila, the baby cucumber is now fertilized and should mature on the vine.  If the baby cucumber is not fertilized, it will drop off the vine and never mature. 

Every two to three days, we need to go look over the plants to find new baby cukes with flowers that have opened, and fertilize them. Takes all of about five minutes time and soon there are a bunch of cucumbers growing on the vines. 

Two baby cukes.	Close up of the female flower with baby cucumber
There are three cucumbers on plant in blue bucket.	There are only male flowers on plant in orange bucket.

The Lessons We Learn as Children

As a child growing up, my family, including grandparents and great grandparents spent a lot of time in the forests all over Oregon looking for native plants to eat and use. I remember picking wild strawberries, salmon berries, blackberries, and huckleberries.  We also looked for certain types of edible mushrooms that we knew were safe to eat (as not all are) and plants that were known to be herbs and roots that could be used to spice up meals and the like. These were ripe during different times of the summer and fall, so we spent a lot of time out there every year, camping and harvesting. 

I think, in my mother's zeal to protect me, she told me that some plants were dangerous that I later discovered were not dangerous at all. Although I was probably too young to understand the names, she would show me the poison oak, poison ivy, stinging nettles and, what looked like wild carrot flowers, also known as Queen Anne's Lace.  Now it is possible that she was thinking they were Hogweeds, which are highly toxic to the skin if touched. But I vividly remember her caution to never touch these specific flowers/plants. 

Anyway, once I was an adult, I learned that she was wrong. But, in the meantime, as a child, I would even have bad dreams about these terrible weeds burning my skin, and I can remember waking up all scared and shaking from having been hurt by these pretty white lacy flowers with the purple center. Aw, the memories of a child.

Anyway, now that I have explained that bit of traumatic childhood memory, I wanted to share what I found. These pink versions of the Wild Carrot, aka Queen Anne's Lace, are growing out in our field where the chicken's had once been. The soil in the pasture gets pretty overly fertilized as we move the coops and pens around to keep our hens in fresh pasture grass. I think that's why some of the flowers are pink.... I think! But I don't really know for certain. 💮💮

Queen Anne's Lace (Wild Carrots) with insects

Queen Anne's Lace foliage

Young Queen Anne's Lace White

Young Queen Anne's Lace Pinkish

Giant Hogweed example

More Blossoms in July

The temps have been cool, and the humidity has been higher with unseasonably muggy weather. Yesterday, we did finally hit 80F, but we had a quick night-time cool down and today we are back in the 60s for the day. That's fine for the potatoes which are in "cure" state as the leaves are all dying. July 31 will be our dig out date. 

The Square Garden is filling in nicely.  The blossoms on the bush beans are turning white and preparing to open. The Dill is filling in nicely, and the basil smells so wonderful. The radishes that I replanted are sprouting, and the carrots that I replanted are filling in the rows. The thyme is growing, so we will see how that turns out.  I've never grown thyme before.  

Bean Blossoms, Dill and Basil

Beans, Dill, Basil, Thyme & Carrots

Basil, Two carrot rows and Radishes

The various stages of the cucumbers. One has started to bloom which you can see through the leaves in the blue bucket on the right. All together, there are six plants. Also, the oregano is ready to harvest for the second time.  If I don't cut it this week, it will bolt, so now or forget about it. 

Six Cucumber Plants in a row

Cucumber Blossoms Forming

Time for 2nd Harvest of Oregano

The poor damaged bell peppers are finally showing signs of survival. The lettuce is also thriving. This has actually been perfect weather for lettuce.  I don't even have to keep it in the shade.

Bell Peppers have Improved

Grand Rapid & Red Sails Leaf Lettuce

Red Sails and Buttercrunch Lettuce

The first of the Sun golds are about ready to pick. Sorry for the blurry - the wind kept moving them. Plus, we have a lot of green fruit on the Sun gold. The Chocolate Cherry Tomatoes are just starting to form. 

Sun Gold Cherry Tomatoes looking golden

Green Sun Gold cherry tomatoes

Finally, some Chocolate Cherries

Day 49 - Corn Tassels

Here we are at week seven and the corn tassels are quickly growing. I measured the corn height and is it, overall, between 40 to 50 inches tall. So close to four feet in average height. It is amazing how quickly it is still growing, considering the cooler, wetter July we have had so far. 

This week, I added the last layer of blood meal for nitrogen, the first bone meal, which I will add every two weeks for the next month or so until the ears are well formed, and I sprinkled in the only additional layer of potash for the season. I mixed it all into the soil around the stalks and weeded, probably for the last time of the season. 

The first photo shows just how behind the "replants" become, even though they were planted about two weeks after the others. The next photo is one of the tassels peeking out above the leaves, and the third is the overall height of the corn. It is thick and full.  I compared the corn with the neighbors who planted theirs at the same time, and mine is taller and thicker. So, adding the nutrients on a regular basis has truly been rewarded during this cooler month (at least so far). 

The Slow Growing Corn Stalk

A Tassel

Corn is between 40 - 50" tall.

A Few More Mid July Photos

I swear that the corn popped up a couple more inches with today's heat, although we are having some humidity issues that make it muggy. There's a good layer of clouds that seem to be holding the humidity in the air.

I measured corn again, and it is 32" so either the foliage perked up with the sun, or they grew more.  I did a more thorough search of the corn, and about half do, now, have the tiny tassels forming inside, so this weekend will be the last of the nitrogen, and we will add a dash of bone meal around each stalk along with a couple granules of potash. Sorry that so many photos are fuzzy - the light was not as intense tonight, and I was a bit shaky with the camera. I should have pulled out the tripod.

Corn height up to 32"

50% have baby tassels

Bigger tassel start

Some of the wind blown badly bent over onions are starting to die back. the tops of all these onions were totally dried out and it was obvious that it was time to pull them now.  About three are the Yellow Onions and the rest are the Walla Walla's.  Not very big, but enough for curing and storing. I have started using this old freezer basket for curing in the garage. Of course, I don't leave them on the floor. I place the basket over the edges of a bucket to allow air to help dry out the outer skins. With the higher humidity, I can't leave them outside in the shade because of the moisture in the air. 

Some Walla Wallas & Yellows

I took a closer look at the beans and poof, the bean blossoms are forming (see arrow). Also, the Dill is picking up steam, as are the thyme plants. Took long enough! 

Green Bean Buds

A few thymes are surviving.

Dills are finally picking up growth.

Purple Cherokee has three fruits. The top photo is the best close up I could accomplish and the next photo has arrows that point to the two tomatoes that were hiding behind the leaves. In the bottom two photos, the SunGold tomato is the only non-heirloom that I have this year, and, as usual, it is ripening sooner than the heirlooms. The Sungold has a lot of tomatoes on it.  I'm guessing close to 50 at this point.  

Two of the Purple Cherokee

Arrows to the Hidden Purple Cherokee

Sungold Ripening

More Sungolds

Other Garden News for Mid July 2019

Heading into the second week of July, and we keep getting yo yo cool hot temps from one day to the next. 

Today was my push to weed the square garden again as the plants continue to grow.  I circled the area around each basil plants (only three this year survived), and the thyme is starting to pick up.  I circled them to make it easier to fertilize them with the manure tea this evening when I water.  I just take a bucket of water, put in a few scoops of manure in an old pillow case or tee-shirt, tie it up and let it soak in the bucket over night. Voila, instant water-based fertilizer that won't burn the plants. May sure to use it quickly or the mosquitoes are attracted it in the bucket and will lay eggs. UGH! Thinned carrots, replanted more radishes, pulled one more dill plant since it was situated too close to the beans.  Sprinkled another round of slug bait around the outside base of the garden and, Bam.... The garden is back on track, to the best of my ability.  Too much rain.  Having to use too much slug bait, which I hate doing.  I really need to pick up a roll of heavy copper wire to wrap around the garden bed. 

Square Garden Progress at about 5.5 weeks

SunGold Cherry tomatoes are coming on strong with lots of fruit.  Purple Cherokee Heirloom has two tomatoes but German and Black Chocolate cherry plants have yet to set any fruit. I keep trying to "finger" pollinate since we don't have a lot of bees this year. I did see a little version of a bee today on my Onion Flower.... I took a couple of photos and finally caught it in one of the shots. 

Walla Walla Sweet Onion Flowering next to Tomato Blossoms

Onion Flower Closer

Close up with little bee bug.

The potatoes all of a sudden are in the final stages.  I had checked on them two days ago, and only one of the three was showing signs of die back. Today, suddenly, the other two caught up. I need to keep these out of the rains now so that they can finish up without rotting the potatoes in the soil. 

Potato Barrel 2

Potato Barrel 3

Lettuce is all ready to use in salads and on sandwiches.  The guys used some on hamburgers last night. There are some new starts popping up for the next phase in a few weeks. This helps to keep a cycle going for the rest of the summer months.  

L-R Buttercrunch, Red Sails & Grand Rapids Leaf

The Bell Peppers, albeit somewhat scraggly, have started flowering.  The Yellow Bell has the most flowers on it. The Red and Green bells each have a couple of flowers. 

Green Bell Pepper Plant with Blossom

And last, but not least, the three buckets of Cucumber plants, preparing to spread and produce pickling cucumbers. 

Six Cucumber Plants Older and Newer