within two days, i made two harvests. in total, i harvested 3/4 of a handful of sugar snap peas (the last bunch from the plants i planted during the summer), 3/4 of a handful of sweet 100 tomatoes, 14 zucchini, 7 cucumbers, and 15 jalapenos. Most of this produce will be/have been given away since my husband and i can't get to it all. just one cucumber lasts us for a whole week!

while cutting down the sugar snap pea plants, i also went ahead and trimmed the zucchini forest as well. too much leaves means not enough air circulation around the plants, which can lead to plant diseases and mildew problems.

oh, do you remember that i started planting some cold-weather crop plants? (only because i read that they can also take some heat). well i have seen some sprouts! all of them are actually sprouting! i will have to take some pictures of them this weekend.

here is the first harvest, on thursday.


here is the second harvest today.

Garden levels?

i think i have reached the next level (if there are any levels) of gardening...well, okay maybe part way since it is not built yet. last night, i received the compost bin and worm bin that i ordered through my county waste management program. it offers these at discount prices and it really was a steal when i compared prices to other online retailers.

anyways, i have two big boxes containing the bins out on the patio. unfortunately, i probably won't be able to build these till the weekend. my plan is to put all veggie/fruit scraps in the worm bin (when i get some worms) and put all plant trimmings in the compost bin. we'll see how this works.

the first problem...finding the right spot for these two.

here is the update of the garden...

the sweet 100 tomato bush getting out of control, but I have been getting a good amount of tomatoes from these bushes the past few days.


the thyme plant is blooming, although its quite small...pretty though, huh?


here is the thyme plant from afar (see how small it is), to the left of the grape tomato that i planted from seed (with the huge fruits).


here are the latest seedlings. i have some new soybean plants growing (planted last weekend), plus some new peat pots with seeds of yellow beets, fordhook giant swiss chard, and broccoli.


here is that pepper plant that i planted next to the broccoli plants (which were harvested some time ago). it is actually GREEN with PERKY leaves. i also just fertilized them today to keep them that way.


my basil plant (also perky and green! yay! it was ailing because of too much water) and, again, the grape tomato.


okay, here is an overview of the left garden, starting with the part closest to the house...













here is the overview of the top garden...


here is the sugar baby watermelon plants. they are branching wonderfully!


here is that female flower that i pollinated earlier. in about a month (i hope!) this watermelon will be ready to harvest and enjoyed!




the soybeans are coming in nicely. not sure how long they will take to reach maturity, but i am judging them on the bulgey-ness of the pods.


in this picture, there are 4 cucumbers almost ready to be picked! i counted, overall, about 6 of them which need to be picked soon.


the almond tree...i was at the farmer's market today, and someone was actually selling green almonds (which is what i currently have now on that tree). interesting. and when i stand on the edge of the raised bed, the tallest branch is taller than me!


my bushy jalapeno plant. i think its really pretty...but i could be biased. (since its the ONLY pepper plant that actually has blooming flowers and peppers growing on them!)


after those highlights, here is the complete overview of the top garden...


(see my sugar snap pea plant falling over? - left side of pic)




(japanese cucumber claiming the lawn as its own growing area)











my flower garden...i don't notice any changes to the tangarine tree yet. i should take some up-close ones and compare these with future ones.


the tomatoes (for the most part) are doing okay. no casualties after the amish paste. i took away the cage which surround the amish one and i am thinking about growing either a blue lake bush bean or a soybean plant there (i currently have seedlings of both).


right garden overview


here are the upper two plots i will use for fall veggies. i will start planting seeds for some of them next month. i have already started some seeds for the fall veggies already (swiss chard, broccoli, and beets - since they all can tolerate some heat well). in the plots with no bush bean plant, i will plant the garlics and onions (since these two plants dont do well with beans/peas).


here is the third plot...


and here is the fourth. i had already prepared these plots by digging/tilling to about 6 - 8 inches down, and adding some of the organic soil compost/conditioner and some organic fertilizer. but now, i just added a few inches of the same organic soil directly to the top of the plot and added mulch ontop of that. doing this, im hoping that by watering this plot, the nutrients from the compost and the mulch will drain through the clay soil and help with its tithe before i plant some beets, broccoli and chard in this plot in about 2 - 3 weeks from now.


here are some green tomatoes on the heirlooms...

monte carlo


mini


bountiful harvest grape


the empty amish paste location


roman candle

garden highlights...

so i went out to the garden this afternoon after getting home from work because i just had this feeling that my watermelon flower buds were going to bloom today...i was right! here are some other things going on as well...

this is on one of the watermelon plants. here is the female flower. there was also a male flower, but as soon as i saw both, i quickly picked the male one and did the business of pollinating the female one. (sorry that these are so blurry)



you can tell it is a female flower by looking at its base. it has a miniature-looking watermelon right behind the blossom. the males don't. this is the same for zucchinis and cucumbers.




the bush bean plants are doing very well in the right garden...




and the bush bean plants in the left garden are doing better after i stopped watering them so much.




even the bell pepper plants in the left garden are doing well - there are flower buds on them!




here is the grape tomato plant from afar - the plant that has those 3-inch long and 2-inch wide grape tomatoes - i didn't think that they get so big!




my carrots - some of these are danvers carrots - they do better in clay soil since they don't grow as long as normal carrots.




and the bush bean plants in the top garden are doing the best and are the biggest so far.

here are some of the highlights in my gardens around the backyard...

the watermelon plant is growing wonderfully and spreading every which way!


also, look what i have spied! the plant looks still young, but it is already starting to show flower buds all over the vines! how exciting!!!


here is another one.


also, my sweet potato is finally starting to branch out. i love the dark foliage of this plant. it is very bushy probably because i planted the entire LARGE sweet potato in the ground without cutting it by number of eyes.


here is a view of the sweet potato plant further away for scale of how big this plant actually is.


how many small jalapenos can you see in this picture? they are just all over the place!


my jalapeno plant is getting really bushy and beautiful!

soybeans are a-coming! from what i hear all the beans on one plant will mature at the same time. woohoo!


my grape tomato is still green and still growing! it is around 3 inches long now! i doubt this is a grape tomato anymore..its just so HUGE.


here are the blooms in the garden...

petunias of all colors


marigolds


african daisies


sweet alyssum


the small flower garden...do you notice the red flower blooming in the top right corner of this picture?


well, its a dahlietta - a mini version of the larger dahlias. it has stunning small red blooms.


nasturtiums..it still keeps coming.