August update!

Well…. I picked my first PEACH from my tree!  Been eating a few blueberries and raspberries but no blackberries so far.   There are only a few strawberries but at least the plants now have a home and I look forward to more. There are bunches and bunches of grapes.   Have picked 5 or 6 eggplant and a few more cucumbers.  A billion tomatoes will ripen real soon... probably during this next heat spell.  I've had a few peppers and 2 carrots are growing (the tomatoes pushed them out..  have to find another place for them). The squash, melons and watermelons have suffered because I'm a procrastinator but there is still hope. Most of the apples are rotting on the tree (gotta figure that out) but the pear tree is amazing  I'm looking forward to rhubarb next year and will figure out a way to get to the cherries before the birds do!  Pretty darn cool, huh?

Lesson’s learned…

Start sooner…. This straw bale gardening is going to work..  it’s a wonder these plants are even alive!

What’s below was unplanned.  There were yet more tomato plants without homes so I thought “why not”….
The plan is to cover this area to extend the season and for next year to start it earlier. we’ll see!

Cucumbers!!

• Harvest regular slicing cucumbers when they about 6 to 8 inches long (slicing varieties).
• Harvest dills at 4 to 6 inches long and pickles at 2 inches long for pickles. The large cucumbers can be up to 10 inches long and some types are even larger.
• Cucumbers are best picked before they seeds become hard and are eaten when immature. Do not let them get yellow. A cucumber is of highest quality when it is uniformly green, firm and crisp. 
• Any cucumbers left on the vine too long will also get tough skins and lower plant productivity.
• At peak harvesting time, you should be picking cucumbers every couple of days.
• Keep them picked. If you don’t, as plants mature, they will stop producing.
• Cucumbers are over 90 percent water. Store wrapped tightly in plastic wrap to retain moisture.
• They will keep for a week to 10 days when stored properly in the refrigerator.

not just tomatoes….

I’m confident…

there will be tomatoes, peppers and lettuce and hopeful there will be squash, cucumbers, pumpkins, eggplants and watermelons!

                         

The straw bale project…

…at least the plants are there now instead of in my driveway!!  Now to plant them in the straw…  and add a few more piles with the ones in the first photo for the melon plants (watermelon and muskmelon aka cantaloupe where I come from!).

…squash, eggplant and cucumbers are here: