The Gardens

In spite of the challenges of this season (and there are many), we have had some successes in our gardens. We have a healthy field of beets and chard with several different varieties to choose from. We also have a couple squash patches that - so far - are doing really well. There have been some signs of major squash bug infestation, but we have done a lot of squishing over the past few weeks and hope to get a good crop out of them.
We have one patch with both butternut and spaghetti squash. The butternut plants look great, while the spaghetti squash plants are struggling a little. Both, however, are loaded with squash so hopefully we will get some ripe ones before the bugs take over!
A butternut squash just starting to ripen: An unripe spaghetti squash: An almost ripe spaghetti squash: A small buttercup squash - these are super sweet and flavorful, we are crossing our fingers extra for these: Some unripe New England Pie pumpkins: We planted the summer squash late in hopes that it would miss the first round of squash bugs. So far so good, they are just starting to produce and the plants are looking good. A tiny patty pan squash with the flower still attached. Kind of looks like a pastry doesn't it? Some rows of sauce tomatoes: Aside from a little blossom-end rot, our tomatoes are doing really well! This is a sauce tomato called Speckled Roman. It will have red and yellow zebra stripes: These are classic Roma sauce tomatoes: It's almost time to pull out all the canning jars!

Ok, we did briefly with a bumper crop of cucumbers...26 jars of pickles: 10 bread and butter, 16 dill. :)

Hopefully we can keep going!

Gearing Up For Fall

As summer peaks we are finally getting a small break from the blistering hundred degree days - temperatures have plummeted to the breezy low 90s. Summer crops are starting to pass by, tomatoes are just gearing up, and we are planting fall crops. As we pull things out we are tilling up the empty beds...ahhh a fresh start. We have tilled up about 15 beds.
We are planting mostly root veggies in the ground: carrots, beets and parsnips. We planted one more succession of beans and put in some late squash and melons.

The garden across the street where we planted beans and some chard:

and squash, pumpkins and melons:

We also started some seedlings a week or two ago for some of the cooler weather crops. This way we can transplant seedlings like we did in the spring and have a better chance of a successful fall garden.

Kale seedlings:

Spinach and Cabbage seedlings:

Along with the kale, spinach and cabbage, we planted brussel sprouts!

Most of what is left in the gardens is doing really well. The tomatoes are going crazy, peppers are starting to ripen, and chard is continuing to grow. The melons, pumpkins, squash and other fall stuff we planted a few weeks ago is flourishing - even without enough water!

Sunflowers in the main garden:

Our new favorite vegetable: the red noodle bean. It is a burgundy bean that grows 18 inches long! They are delicious and don't loose their color when you cook them. They are convenient because you don't have to use as many for a meal and so you don't have as many of those annoying little ends to snap or chop off. We will be bringing them to market from now on, but you will definitely see more of these from us next year.

Red noodle bean flower:

Sweet potato plants:

Squash and pumpkin patch:

New England pie pumpkin (it will turn orange when it's ripe):

Melon patch:

Watermelon! It is about the size of a softball at this point, we got them in late:

Amish melon, tastes like a cantaloupe:

We will be on vacation in Cape May, NJ for the next week, and are happy for the break. We are really excited to see how things look when we get back!