Peas, tomatoes, watermelons, tomatoes, pumpkins

I spent quite a lot of time aggressive weeding the garden post-vacation and things are now much more in hand. We're also starting to see some meaningful amount of produce!

I picked a gallon of peas last night, shucked them and then blanched and froze them this morning (maybe four cups in the end). We also have some stupid tomatoes ripening.

By the garage, we're starting to see some progress with the watermelons. Not every flower is being fertilized but there are few. I think, with two months of summer left, we might get some melons!

The tomatoes are also ready plentiful and a few are beginning to redden. I imagine later August will be the bonanza time this year.

The pumpkin patch is entirely overgrown (four plants!) and has climbed the raspberries and worked its way through the fence into the neighbour's yard. There are a few five-pin bowling ball sized pumpkins growing. Good thing the raspberries are starting to wind down, because picking is challenging. I'be got four gallons in the freezer for jamming this fall.

Some the climbers are also making their way up the trellis we built, albeit slowly. I think this is a cucumber.

I'm having better luck with bell peppers this years. movie them up to a hotter bed has done the trick.

I also harvested two spaghetti squash in the hope that the plant would make some more. I hauled the dehydrator out last week to put away some dill weed.

The bees are enjoying the sunflowers that the birds planted. The sunflowers I planted are well behind. 

And the corn is likely a bust this year. Probably not enough light in the bed I choose. Maybe next year!

Pumpkins, scapes, and berries

We're back from a week's vacation to find the garden has very much grown! The pumpkin patch has really jumped up and I'm hopeful for some good-sized squash this fall. I also had to retire a rain barrel and ended up running the eaves into the pumpkin patch. Happily, I managed not to cut myself on the sheet metal.

The garlic scapes needed to come in so I cut 40 or 50 this morning, blanched them and then froze them for future use. 

I also cleaned off most of the Saskatoons and put a gallon away in the freezer. The raspberries are just starting to ripen so we've been eating them fresh with ice cream and I've been putting some away in the freezer for jamming. It looks like we'll have a lot of berries this year.

It looks like we'll also have a good crop of tomatoes and even a bunch of bell peppers. I wish the watermelon would grow a bit more and set some fruit. That might be a bust this year. The corn is also looking a bit behind. Maybe it is not getting enough sun so I'll try a different bed next spring.

Poppies, Tomatoes, Melons, and Berries

June has been alternately hot and wet and the garden is starting to fill out a bit. The big surprise of the summer has been a bed of poppies that had grown up around the asparagus. The bees are loving this.

Most of the tomatoes are doing really well. Below, the first of the stupice have set fruit. I'm still eating dehydrated tomatoes for last year and these are super tasty.

The black tomatoes we planted are also doing well. Both of these types were in high raised beds. Other types, in lower raised beds, are still doing well but are a week or two behind.

The melons and squash are starting to come. I think there is a nitrogen shortage in two beds due to the wood chips in the manure I put in so I am culling a bunch of feral arugula and dumping it in to the beds for a bit of a shot. That seems to be working.

It looks like the plants are indeed climbing the trellis although I spend a fair bit of time helping them wind their way upwards.

The cherry tree seems to have produced real cherries! I look forward to the the taste of a $20 cherry.

As the cilantro is starting to bolt, I have been cutting it and freezing it for winter use in salad dressings. Some I am letting go to seed to save. A second planting is just now coming ready for use.

The Saskatoons are also ripe, a couple of weeks ahead of usual.

I'm just freezing these and will add to the raspberry jam when I get around to that in the fall.

I expect the first raspberries will be ready in the next two weeks. The second sowing of peas should also be producing by then.