Planting and Growing Your Own -- 2021

[gaja]

9) Have planted loads of roses and clematis along these trellises, hoping to hide the neighbours ugly garage: flammentanz (red climbing roses), Lykkefund (white climbers), Helenae hybrid (white with yellow centers), Alchymist (pink/orange hues), pink and blue alpine clematis, clematis Ms Bateman, etc. If they all survive, it might be a bit much...

10) Got tired of weeding around an old tree stump, so we placed a potted dahlia on top. Behind it, there already where a couple of peonies. I've added a few more, some purchased and some seeded dahlias, and to increase the flowering season; a few purple coneflowers. The hope is to have a flowering border along that wall.

11) this peony was a nice surprice this year. I've not planted it, so I'm looking forward to seeing how it looks. Also very happy with the pink celery. I don't care if they taste good or not, They are incredibly pink!

12) The pink rose bush in front, Hurdalsrose, is my favorite. It has almost no thorns, and can survive anything. It will become as large as the bush behind it, which is a wild rose bush with simple flowers and nice red hops.

[gaja]

13) The currant bushes are doing ok, but are a bit yellow. It is probably the heavy clay soil, but I'll give them some more nitrogen fertilizer and see if that helps. The blueberries are doing well, except for the pink lemonade that didn't survive the very cold January we had.

14) The raspberries are growing and spreading, and have a lot of flowers. Got several different types, from yellow, to early red, late red, and purple. The blackberries are not thriving as well, probably to short seasons and cold winters. The white flower is a thalictrum. It was supposed to be pink, but looks more white/yellow. Well, I guess we have enough pink flowers in the garden already...

15) This flower border turned out nicely. Dumped a lot of bulbs there last autumn, and have had flowers for many weeks already. I love these alliums, and the sunflowers I sowed between them are already growing nicely. The dream is to have a sunflower wall towards the road - we'll see what happens.

[slackmax]

Does anyone think that reused metal tomato cages could be transferring disease to my tomatos? 

I have 3 different tomato plants in right now, and each one is doing great, no rust or blight or yellowing, etc.  I haven't put the cages around them yet.

Seems like as soon as I do, the leaves start turning yellow or brown.

Thanks 

[MudPuppy]

You can always clean them just to be safe

[RetiredAt63]

You can always clean them just to be safe

Soap and water, alcohol, quaternary cleaner should take care of most things.

[slackmax]

You can always clean them just to be safe

Soap and water, alcohol, quaternary cleaner should take care of most things.

OK, thanks. I think I'll wipe them down with a wet rag and a  mild bleach solution.

[Fishindude]

Does anyone think that reused metal tomato cages could be transferring disease to my tomatos? 

I have 3 different tomato plants in right now, and each one is doing great, no rust or blight or yellowing, etc.  I haven't put the cages around them yet.

Seems like as soon as I do, the leaves start turning yellow or brown.

Thanks

Nope.
The mature plants need something thy aren't getting, probably fertilization.
There are some specialty fertilizers for tomatoes.

[Frugal Lizard]

Loving all the photos gardeners!

I did a long day in the pantry garden Saturday.  Four rows of potatoes, four hills of cukes, a three sisters row with rattlesnake beans and two types of popcorn and ALL the squashes.  My dear oldster mom said: 'when it comes to squash, I am unfillable'.  Hah dear Mother, you don't know how well I garden these days.  I planted a fair number of plants, we shall see how much this 85 pound 80 year woman can tuck back.

I also planted a patch of black beans and orca beans for both drying and seed saving as well as a full package of shelling peas.

DH staked the paste tomato plants.  They are setting fruit.  I decided to try and keep them trellised this year as I only got 16 seedlings out of 25 very expensive seeds.  I don't want to buy tomatoes this year - this is my plan hopefully. 

We had a steady rain for two to three hours this morning which was so very needed.
Last week I donated 5 pounds of greens to the food pantry before it got ahead of us.  Three families are now enjoying all the salad we want.  I have taken to adding finely chop raw asparagus and celery that survived the winter in town. 

All that is left to plant out at the farm is storage beets and turnips.  And I am only growing a few.  I might have missed the window with the heat we are having.  Might try germinating them in soil blocks in the basement and transplanting.

[RetiredAt63]

We are having solid fine rain this afternoon, with a bit of thunder and flickering lights.  The gardens are so dry, this will ,make all my planting this week so much easier.

[slackmax]

Does anyone think that reused metal tomato cages could be transferring disease to my tomatos? 

I have 3 different tomato plants in right now, and each one is doing great, no rust or blight or yellowing, etc.  I haven't put the cages around them yet.

Seems like as soon as I do, the leaves start turning yellow or brown.

Thanks

Nope.
The mature plants need something thy aren't getting, probably fertilization.
There are some specialty fertilizers for tomatoes.

Interesting. I do have some generic organic vegetable fertilizer I have been using on them in the past.
Maybe I need the variety just for tomatoes.

[Aegishjalmur]

Does anyone think that reused metal tomato cages could be transferring disease to my tomatos? 

I have 3 different tomato plants in right now, and each one is doing great, no rust or blight or yellowing, etc.  I haven't put the cages around them yet.

Seems like as soon as I do, the leaves start turning yellow or brown.

Thanks

Nope.
The mature plants need something thy aren't getting, probably fertilization.
There are some specialty fertilizers for tomatoes.

Interesting. I do have some generic organic vegetable fertilizer I have been using on them in the past.
Maybe I need the variety just for tomatoes.

Not sure where you are located but it might be water related. If tomatoes get inconsistent moisture they cannot transfer the nutrients from the soil properly, so even if the soil has all the nutrients they need, it doesn't matter.

[horsepoor]

My garden is a fraction of past years, but I did get a nice crop of cherries. Just picked 5 gallons with many left on the high branches for the birds. No larva in them like when I got a big crop a few years ago.

[Frugal Lizard]

Oh man....those look gorgeous.

Yesterday was a big afternoon at the farm.  It is coming along. Three sisters are up.  Cukes are slow to germinate though. I am almost totally planted.  There is a little bit of room left for some carrots but I can't seem to get germination with the lack of consistent rain. I am hoping a late plant and fall mulching might be the ticket.
I have started to put away the harvest. I attended a seminar about dehydrating as a storage method.   The instructor recommended storing greens in powdered form for adding to dishes as needed.  To that end i have all the trays loaded with the tops feom the onions.   They smell like sour cream and onion chips. 

Another thing i am trying is making a high calcium soil available to the tomatoes.   All the egg shells from the last few weeks are boiled and ground in a slurry for the tomatoes.

I have made a couple of batches of asparagus soup.  Yummy.

[slackmax]

Just put the cages around my tomatoes yesterday.

Only one of the plants had any yellow and brown leaves.

I hope the cages don't ruin the plants.  I chose not to clean the cages off. If there is anything bad on the cages, it's bound to be all over the place, anyway.

I am hoping the fact that I bought all my tomatoes this year from a different supplier, will result in less disease happening.

They certainly look a lot healthier than last year's. 

I have put some organic 'vegetable fertilizer' around the one plant that has the yellow and brown leaves, after the problem appeared, and haven't dared to do anything to the other beautiful plants yet, except the cages.

Fingers crossed ! 

[MudPuppy]

Harvested my first zucchini! We have 8-10 plants in 25 gallon felt bags. I LOVE zucchini, so even though it’s just me and the spouse, we don’t have trouble eating it.

[RetiredAt63]

My garden is greening.  Tomatoes are all in.  Soaked pole bean seeds for a day and planted them yesterday.  I have 5 varieties, 3 yellow, 1 green and 1 purple.    Started all the cucurbit seeds soaking at the same time and will be planting them in about an hour - a zucchini, a cucumber, and 3 different winter squash.

Harvest so far has been peas, rhubarb and garlic scapes.  Frugal Lizard, that is a good idea about dehydrating the scapes.  I was going to chop and freeze, will do half and half.  The garlic leaves are just starting to yellow at the tips, so I am guessing harvest in a few weeks.

The only major work left to do is move all the municipal compost from the front of the plot onto the beds, so I can get at the front beds and plant sweet potatoes.

One of my pole bean varieties is good as either a snap bean or as shellies.  The only shellies I've ever eaten were Lima beans, which I really disliked.  Anyone have a good recipe for shellies?

Ps auto correct doesn't like shellies,  it keeps changing it to Shellie. Silly dictionary.

[Trifle]

Happy Solstice everyone!  @gaja -- your city garden looks amazing.  Thanks for the great update.  @horsepoor -- gorgeous cherries!  The birds got all of ours this year; we were busy and didn't cover the trees. 

Our cukes and tomatoes look good, just a little small for this time of year.  I was a couple weeks late starting them because of two spring road trips I took.  I think and hope they'll catch up and bear normally.  The perennials (leeks, elderberries, gooseberries, currants, etc.) look good.  The garlic I planted last November is almost ready to harvest.

I just realized this is the very first year -- in 20+ years of gardening -- I haven't bought a single vegetable plant.  Usually I end up buying something, even if it's just one or two plants to replace something that failed or was eaten.  This year I grew all the annuals from seed.  Feels like a gardener milestone somehow.  Next milestone -- grow everything from seed I saved!  :)

[WhiteTrashCash]

Just finished strawberry season and we had our best crop of strawberries yet. Over five liters of berries. We did lose a bunch to rabbits and birds, but overall it went great. My strawberry patch is extremely low maintenance. I planted two plants a few years ago, mulched them, and then let them grow as they would and now we have a big plot of them.

In a couple weeks, we should have green beans and sugar snap peas and in a month or so we should have fresh blackberries.

My wife wants to expand the vegetable and fruit garden for next season but that will mean expanding my irrigation system, so it will take a little bit of planning. In the meanwhile, I'm planning to finally install the two rain barrels with gravity stands that we've been keeping in storage for a couple years to reduce our water usage. We've been lucky so far this season and only needed to water the garden with our irrigation system a couple of times.

[Roots&Wings]

Love seeing the gorgeous garden photos from all over the world! @WhiteTrashCash hope the rainbarrel install goes well. @Trifele that's awesome about your "no buy" veggie season :)

Barbados cherries are fruiting here, it's bizarre how the fruit suddenly appears seemingly out of thin air, yesterday there were 2, today almost 50. Star cherries recently bloomed for the first time.

Pineapples are getting to be monsters! A lone pomegranate, the bush is slowly dying, it's one of the first things I planted 5 years ago; trying to get a cutting to root in a pot, they don't like the summer moisture in the ground. 

[Frugal Lizard]

Wow - amazing gardening achievements!

[Aegishjalmur]

It is amazing to me how two very very different climates can still fall in comparable USDA Hardiness Zones. Our old place was in Denver Colorado, which is a 5b. New place is in Western Michigan, which is also a 5b..... there is a 20 inch+ difference in average rainfall and  Denver averages 44 days over 90 degrees a year vs our current area which rarely breaks 89 degrees..... Though we did find out that our North Facing porch is still too sunny for Tomatoes and a few other plants. Oh well, as my mother says 'You don't know a plant until you've killed it three different ways'.

[Rosy]

Great updates everyone!:)

@gaja - thanks for the picks and welcome to the club of unruly gardeners. You have a beautiful garden, great mix of flowers, herbs and veggies.

@horsepoor - oh my those cherries, I'm salivating:)

@Roots&Wings - I didn't have any luck with my pineapple guava either. It was so pretty I was already planning to buy more when it started slowly dying.
You are doing so well with your mixed fruit orchard - I kinda fell off the wagon once it started getting hot and humid so my planned tree purchases will have to wait until fall.

The rainy season is here,
we were exceptionally dry for two months and the first three weeks of rain missed us completely.
I'm so relieved I did the rain dance:)!

We finally planted our second cherry tree - Rio Grande Cherries - the first weekend the rains started.
Good timing, it looks happy.
It was actually doing better in the pot than his brother that I planted in February. It is hardly growing at all.

@slackmax  - here is a great youtube video about dealing with a variety of tomato diseases.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpuF5PR2jxE
Very detailed and incredibly useful.

GARDEN GIFTS 
1. I can't believe I just harvested a big bowl of tomatoes. Amazing, it is almost July, the longest run we've ever had.
Volunteers - even more amazing I've got two mystery tomatoes that showed up in the flower pot a month ago (from compost).
There may be cherry tomatoes soon - unbelievable.

PAPAYAS
2. I got three papayas growing in the pot with the new Meyer Lemon, I guess they really liked the citrus fertilizer and compost because they are super healthy looking and the Meyer Lemon doesn't seem to mind sharing too much at present.
Already one foot to two feet high by the time I finally figured out what they were.
Now I just need to find a good spot for one of them and give the other two away.

BANANAS - I think I may be growing my own PLANTATION!
1. The plantain has its first pup:).
2. vanilla ice cream banana is now full-grown and so is its first pup.
...and there are two half-grown pups.
3. The dwarf banana is still hardly growing - boo, but it looks happy again now that the rains have started.

I CAVED
Ordered six plants from my favorite nursery in California Annie's Annuals even though I know damn well it is too late to order live plants in this heat.
Well, two plants paid the price for my foolishness.
PLANT LUST
I've been trying to grow "Kiss me over the Garden Gate" from seed but no luck.
So I just had to order two plants from Annie's and I'm thrilled to share that one of them survived and is doing well.
Snack attack: poor thing got immediately chewed on by at least two different insects.

Speaking of Annie's
I am framing the picture on the front cover of their catalog - LUV
Here is the center pic on their website https://www.anniesannuals.com/


Finally satisfied my craving for more Salvias and one of them turned out to be an absolute winner - yay.
Unaffected by shipping and surprisingly no transplant shock either.
It doesn't even look like a salvia because the leaves are thick and fuzzy in a rounded shape unlike any salvia I've ever encountered.
Penelope Hobhouse one of my favorite flower gardeners said that
"every garden needs one" so I'm hoping it likes and thrives in my garden.

This is what it will look like if it makes it through our brutal summers.
Ain't it glorious? ... fragrant and self-seeds too what more could you want from a plant?:)

It is called Salvia sclarea 'Piemont' and so far it is looking happy.

GARDEN UPDATES
Passionfruit
We will have a bumper crop of passion fruit - Maracuja yeah!:)
Looking oh so good.
The other passion fruit still hasn't flowered yet so I don't know if we will have fruit from it this year, but it sure is growing like a weed.
Looking happy.

We had a storm blow through that caused some havoc and something has been knocking over the pots in one area overnight.
The entry arch to the Secret Garden almost got blown down - working on fixing that today.
Other than that,
the garden is filling in and exploding with green lushness including tons of weeds:)
now that the rains have finally come.
The new basil variety Mommolo that I tried seems to finally throw off the last of its infestation and is doing fine.
It needs more water and more shade than I thought but except for one planting area, I think it will survive just fine.

Really enjoying the cold summer drinks I'm concocting
with mints - lemon verbena - elderberry - passionfruit - papaya.
I just can't get myself to chop the branches of my Moringa, it is so pretty and happy and the scent of the flowers is wonderful.
Instead, I'm occasionally brewing a cup of tea from the flowers.

HAPPY GARDENING EVERYONE:)! 

[MaybeBabyMustache]

@horsepoor - those cherries are amazing!

We've started picking a lot of tomatoes, and have caprese multiple times a week. Bonus of using all of the basil we have growing. We have an herb bed, and it's gone absolutely bonkers: oregano, thyme, two kinds of basil. Ironically, the dill doesn't like it & seems to be dead.

I picked a bunch of kale today, and we have ever so many peppers. Green peppers, jalapenos, shishitos, fresno, etc. And, the ever present zucchini. Still growing. The spinach bolted, but I've planted more, so fingers crossed.

When we get back from a trip next week, I'll replant the cilantro I killed, as well as add more radishes.

[Roots&Wings]

@Rosy love reading your garden updates. Those salvias are glorious! As is the Annie's catalog cover :)

Thank goodness for the summer rains is right. I'd been holding off planting with the drought and barely keeping up with hand watering. Got my water bill and used ~280 gallons watering things last month, yikes.

Black surinam cherry is flowering a second time here. Lots of baby sugar apples forming (yay first time!). And pomelo taking shape, they usually don't ripen until Nov-Jan, will see this year.

[dougules]

I wish I could grow sugar apples and pomelos here.  I guess I can't complain, though, given that I've already gotten 10 lbs of blueberries with the season still ramping up. 

[dougules]

GARDEN UPDATES
Passionfruit
We will have a bumper crop of passion fruit - Maracuja yeah!:)
Looking oh so good.
The other passion fruit still hasn't flowered yet so I don't know if we will have fruit from it this year, but it sure is growing like a weed.
Looking happy.

If you like passion fruit, you should try growing maypops (Passiflora incarnata).  The fruit is similar to maracuya, but it's a native species in the SE US.  You might even be able to forage wild fruit for seed. 

[Trifle]

Thanks @dougules !  Never heard of maypop, so I’m off to research. 

[Roots&Wings]

Wow @dougules that sounds like an amazing blueberry harvest. How many plants do you have/what's your secret?

[dougules]

Thanks dougules!  Never heard of maypop, so I’m off to research.

They're pretty common wild here in AL.  I would imagine they'd be common in NC, too. 

[Trifle]

Thanks dougules!  Never heard of maypop, so I’m off to research.

They're pretty common wild here in AL.  I would imagine they'd be common in NC, too.

I haven't seen anything like that around here, but now I'll be on the lookout! 

[dougules]

Wow dougules that sounds like an amazing blueberry harvest. How many plants do you have/what's your secret?

I have 6 bushes, but only one is fully mature.  Two things that have made the difference for me are gardening sulfur to acidify the soil, and bird nets.  The biggest "secret", though, is that Rabbiteye Blueberries are a native to here, and it's just easier to grow native plants that are well-adapted to the local climate and pests.  That's also why I'm suggesting maypops for anybody in the SE. 

[WhiteTrashCash]

Just had new lettuce sprout in our indoor garden under our LED grow lamps. This will be great to replace the ones we’ve been using lately. I can never grow lettuce outdoors due to pests and heat, but they grow indoors really well in my house under the right conditions.

[Roots&Wings]

Wow dougules that sounds like an amazing blueberry harvest. How many plants do you have/what's your secret?

I have 6 bushes, but only one is fully mature.  Two things that have made the difference for me are gardening sulfur to acidify the soil, and bird nets.  The biggest "secret", though, is that Rabbiteye Blueberries are a native to here, and it's just easier to grow native plants that are well-adapted to the local climate and pests.  That's also why I'm suggesting maypops for anybody in the SE.

Good point about the natives. Maypop is also a butterfly host plant. I managed to kill rabbiteye blueberry several years ago, hope to try again either this year or next with appropriate soil sulphur/acidity testing and a different native blueberry variety (rabbiteye's native to northern part of my state, but not south/central region). Thanks for the tips!

And congrats on the indoor lettuce sprouts @WhiteTrashCash!

[WhiteTrashCash]

I just checked my garden after returning from vacation and sadly a rabbit got past my pest netting and ate every pea and bean plant. So my outdoor garden is essentially dead this year, except for my blackberry patch. Oh, well. I tried. Looks like the farmer's market is going to get some business this summer.

[Trifle]

I’m so sorry @WhiteTrashCash.  Dang rabbits.  :(

[dougules]

I’m so sorry @WhiteTrashCash.  Dang rabbits.  :(

Just something to note, fried rabbit is better than fried chicken. ;)

[Rosy]

GARDEN UPDATES
Passionfruit
We will have a bumper crop of passion fruit - Maracuja yeah!:)
Looking oh so good.
The other passion fruit still hasn't flowered yet so I don't know if we will have fruit from it this year, but it sure is growing like a weed.
Looking happy.

If you like passion fruit, you should try growing maypops (Passiflora incarnata).  The fruit is similar to maracuya, but it's a native species in the SE US.  You might even be able to forage wild fruit for seed.

Thanks, @dougules :)
Funny thing - everybody calls it Maypop so I never made the connection that this is a passionflower:).
Would have saved me a solid $40 had I known - I paid $19.95 ea for the two varieties I ordered online.

Once I tasted the first fruit I considered it a great investment after all:).
I absolutely love the taste of Maracuja.

Luckily I have an area where I can let the Maypop go wild - apparently, it can get invasive in our zone.
The taste was described as apricot guava. (sold out)
Seeds were sold out everywhere I looked, and the only nursery in our area that has it, is 25 miles away and requires $200 in purchases to place an order. 

I'll try FB seed exchange and garden clubs next - somebody surely has a plantling or some seeds for me. :(whine:)

@WhiteTrashCash - Rabbit Stew:).

[Roots&Wings]

Turmeric is blooming. And a spiny orb weaver spider visitor, couldn't get my camera to focus, but it literally has a yellow smiley face :) Google photo shows this better.

Another interesting SE native is gopher apple (favorite food of the endangered gopher tortoise), an evergreen groundcover that makes an edible fruit some say tastes like nothing, while others say it tastes like pink bubble gum. It's often carried at native plant nurseries, I'm going to pick some up along with a maypop.

[Cranky]

We moved this spring/summer, so the garden situation is pretty chaotic this year. I figure is mostly a trial and error season, before I get serious about things next year, I certainly miss my raspberries!

Meanwhile, I noticed that the only canning jar lids the grocery store had on the shelves were $9.99 a DOZEN. Yikes!

[Rosy]

^^^ Spidey time of year! - They have a few favorite spots in my garden but occasionally I forget
and walk/break into a big net, resulting in a nose to nose with spidey:).
They do look cool like a smiley crab.

Well, tropical storm Elsa blew through and my new and still fragile-looking "Kiss me over the garden gate" made it through the storm just fine.
It just started blooming and is slowly branching out - bright pink, arching - I'm in love:)

All the gingers finally came out to play. I was convinced they were all dead.
Shampoo Ginger - can't wait for it to bloom the first time - bright red pinecone blooms. Once the rains started it grew a foot in a week.
Culinary Ginger - luckily it now gets more shade than last year, so I think it should do well and hopefully bloom too.
I want to move it but I thought it might be best to let it get stronger and move it in the fall.
Yellow Turmeric Ginger - will have scented white flowers, it looks much happier this year also due to more shade.
None have bloomed yet since I only planted the rhizomes or four-inch plants last fall. I expected them to show up by early June but they were all late to the party.

HELICONIA (Guyana) - the epitome of a tropical plant. Sadly only one of the rhizomes sent up a shoot.
Looks fat and happy at almost three feet tall with pretty green foliage.

TIME - progression of my three-year garden plan
Last night I took a step back in time and reviewed my garden pics from last spring - huge difference. It looked so bare with the bananas, papayas and moringa all still so small.
Now I wish I'd planted a couple more fruit trees and bushes after all, but I was hesitant and frankly exhausted, worrying about planting too close and whether I made good choices and what may or may not survive.
I still have planting holes (empty spaces) and misfits - plants that didn't work out as planned and one I simply planted in the wrong spot.
Overall, not too bad - if this years' tweaks are successful - I think by next year (year three) it might just be the lush oasis I envisioned.

Wins and fails
The Blackberry Iris was a good choice as a background plant and free:) since I have plenty of volunteers from another part of the garden.
The Blackberry Jam (tropical) bush is without a doubt the slowest growing plant I have in my entire garden and the plant tag lied, it wants bright shade and pouts in the direct hot sun. I had to move them all - those suckers (orange fruit) better taste terrific - if they ever make it to maturity:).

PLANTING
Yeah, well - I know I said I was done:) we all know a garden is never finished, always changing. I plan to venture out by first light to plant new volunteers, like the papaya and move a couple of potted plants into the ground, and gasp - I will seed out a few more zinnias that I haven't tried yet.
I want to take advantage of the window of 75-78 temps in the early morning.

Maybe I can talk Mr. R. into weeding next weekend:).

[WhiteTrashCash]

Update on my garden: A couple weeks after a rabbit ate my entire garden, the bean plants have regenerated from bare stems and now they have leaves and flowers again. I may actually get some beans from this garden after all. I mended the hole in the pest netting that the rabbit chewed through it using some wire bread ties I had saved in a junk drawer.

The rabbit seems to have moved on, so we'll see if I actually get some vegetables from this garden after all. The sugar snap pea plants are gone, so I can replant those and try again. We'll see. Anyway, just wanted to let people know that there may actually be some hope for this garden after all.

[Rosy]

A garden is the epitome of hope:).

Well, it is summer - relentless heat and thankfully a few showers, but OMG the weeds.
Gotta find enough oomph to deal with some planting and planting and mulching.

We have
BOWLS FULL OF PASSION FRUIT:) - trying out a jam recipe this weekend.
TOMATOES - don't they know it's mid-July, what are they doing still growing in my garden this year? Yum, homemade tomato sauce with herbs from the garden.
PERSIAN LIMES:) - perfect for all our summer drinks. I've become a lime and water addict.
PAPAYAS - OH YEAH!

Time to take some pics of all the wild loveliness and the lovely flower and herb gardens.

Wondering
when we will get our first bananas...
One of the tropical basils (Indian?) Tulsi that I tried from seed this year is going wild, it is thriving on neglect and seems to love its spot.

Have fun in the garden y'all:)!

[Anette]

@Rosy: The description of your wonderfully delicious garden makes me want to leave Germany and move to Florida, too.

[Trifle]

Great to hear everyone's garden updates!

Our vegetable garden is doing pretty well.  We have a bumper crop of cucumbers, and I'm harvesting garlic.  The tomatoes are on the way -- flowering now -- and hopefully we'll have a good crop. 

Our big Rose of Sharon bush is flowering, and the bees are very happy.  All kinds of bees -- our honey bees and also wild bees of every description.  This thing is covered with insects -- I can hear the hum from twenty feet away.

Another very popular plant right now is the anise hyssop.  It's covered with bees all day.

[snorr]

Report from the North, and without pretty pictures like the ones Rosy, Trifele and gaja (thx, everything looks delicious!):

May/June:
Strawberries, 40 plants, very delicious.

June/July:
Fava beans (3 x 4 m row)

July so far:
1. Beetroot including stems and leaves (4 x 3 m row)
2. Raspberries (planted this year, hoping for more next year)

Coming up:
1. Carrots (3 x 3 m row)
2. Zuchini (2 plants and a runt under attack by snails)
3. Rhubarb (5 small plants, all planted this year, perhaps it will be next year)
4. Leek (4 x 2 m row)
5. Pumpkin (about 10 plants, but space is limited)
6. Potatoes (4 x 4 m)
7. Herbs (camomille, mint, lavender, oregano, lemon balm, lemon verbena and I must be forgetting 5-10 things, mrs. Snorr's domain)

Next year:
1. Apples (planted 2 trees this spring)
2. Pears (same)
3. Berries (gooseberry, redcurrant, blackcurrant, blueberry)

Long term:
Walnut (will take 3-4-5 years before we'll see the first nuts. Really looking forward to this long-term project.

Will try to remind myself to make pictures.

Keep 'm growing!

[sixwings]

I harvested my garlic this weekend! I got 70 garlic heads, about 50 were normal size and 20 were pretty small but still useable. None that weren’t useable. Really excited about that! It’s now all hanging to dry. So that made me feel a little bit better about my garden so far.  It's my first year trying to grow food and it's been less than productive. I love garlic and I find the difference between garlic varieties grown for storage that you get at the store and varities you grow for flavor to be really significant. I planted these last October in my front garden, at some point in like February deer ate the tops and it was still a good harvest! So I'm pretty pumped on that right now.

[dougules]

I harvested my garlic this weekend! I got 70 garlic heads, about 50 were normal size and 20 were pretty small but still useable. None that weren’t useable. Really excited about that! It’s now all hanging to dry. So that made me feel a little bit better about my garden so far.  It's my first year trying to grow food and it's been less than productive. I love garlic and I find the difference between garlic varieties grown for storage that you get at the store and varities you grow for flavor to be really significant. I planted these last October in my front garden, at some point in like February deer ate the tops and it was still a good harvest! So I'm pretty pumped on that right now.

It's great to see your garlic harvest.  I used to get a nice garlic crop like that, but it got some kind of blight. 

[Frugal Lizard]

Wow!!! beautiful photos of glorious gardens!

We have been having the most curious weather.  So much rain after so little.

We have been feasting on raspberries this past two weeks. 
My garlic is almost ready.  It is huge but the individual bulbs are not quite distinct yet.

My in town in garden tomatoes are failing spectacularly. The ones in the greenhouse are doing so very well.  Out in the garden they look incredible until suddenly the entire plant goes into wilt.  Randomly along the row.  I have bought disease resistant hybrids, added fancy fertilizers.  There has to be something in the soil.  I think I am going to give up on tomatoes in my town garden completely.

Orca beans are starting to produce in quantity.
And we had a great feed on fava beans.  They are too much work to eat regularly but I love their colour.
Zucchini onslaught has begun.  I kept one for us and donated the rest to our local food pantry.  I am probably at 30 pounds donated this season.  (which has been mostly greens so the volume is much more impressive than the weight.  And now with zucchini starting, that weight could go up!
I dug a few of the volunteer potatoes for supper last night.  They are sprouting up among the tomatoes and squash at the farm so I left them for early harvesting this summer.
We picked more than a quart of peas yesterday. 
And 8 cherry tomatoes from the greenhouse. 

I have also dried a good number of chamomile flowers and a huge jar of calendula flowers.  A couple of years ago I made lip balm with olive oil infused with calendula and bees wax.

And I bought pitted cherries - both red and black.  I made three sheets of sweet cherry leather and froze the (25lbs)rest for pies and such....if I ever get a stove....that is another story.
I have made cherry balsamic and raspberry vinegar.  As well I have frozen the juice for adding to carbonated water.  I have been able to wean myself of coke and gingerale almost entirely through fancy sodas. 
 

[WhiteTrashCash]

Today, I gathered the first few ripe triple crown blackberries from my plants and soon there should be enough to start making some muffins. Each berry is about two-thirds the size of my thumb, so there should be a good amount of fruit. I am about three years into growth with these plants. Of the three blackberry plants I planted, one was killed by squirrels, so I had to replace it by letting one of the other plants root and grow into a new plant. So right now I'm getting good fruit from two of the plants, while the third is just beginning to produce. Under ideal conditions, each plant can produce about twenty lbs of fruit.

My bean plants are also finally producing after nearly being killed off entirely by rabbit attack. We'll have some fresh organic beans to eat starting this week.

I replanted the sugar snap peas, so we'll have to see if they grow back. They were entirely eradicated by rabbits. If they don't grow, I'll replace that section with more beans, because I still have some seed leftover.

[Rosy]

Wow @Frugal Lizard - now I have some serious green garden envy. Great garden!:)

Hoping for more rain to help water the garden.