Also have been picking a few eggplant a week. They have been mild and sweet. Sliced, breaded and baked they make a good pasta substitute for spaghetti sauce.
I took some pics this morning so here they are. This is a shot of most of the garden. Forgot to clean the condensation off the camera lens so it looks like fog.
Since the butternut did well I went on ahead and planted 6 in a bed. They take about 90 - 100 days from germination before mature squash are ready so we'll shoot for late October to harvest.
I planted 3 tomato plants along with the first row of carrots. One is a Bush Celebrity and the other two are Bush Goliath. The Goliath plants look like they are doing much better than the Celebrity. Usually the blossoms drop in the summer heat but I have a cherry tomato that grew in a pot in front of the house and it is producing green tomatoes so I'm hoping these will give me a head start. I am now out of fresh tomatoes and have to buy them from the grocery store which are far inferior to the home grown ones.
A few carrots have germinated but only a few. I need to plant another row this weekend since it has been two weeks since I planted this row and I want to plant a row every two weeks.
The cucumbers are climbing and blooming. I found a couple female flowers this morning. The first flush of flowers were all male to begin with. They usually start out that way.
The watermelon vines are taking over the area. Many male flowers abound. Today I noticed a female flower so I am sure there are a few more.
My container potato is growing pretty quick. So today I will add soil up to the top of the plant and keep doing that until we get to the top of the pot. Then let it grow until it begins to die back and we should have more red potatoes again.
Two of the three pepper plants are growing well. They have blooms on them and lots of new leaves. One died.
The leeks and strawberry transplants look real healthy. I am thinking of planting a lot of the strawberry plants in pots and giving a few to some neighbors. Maybe they will get the gardening bug.
Now to the sweet potatoes. I have two beds of them. One with the original dirt mixed with the compost, peat, and vermiculite. The other with all compost, peat, and vermiculite. The second bed has always looked much healthier. I planted them on April 22nd so it has been 92 days. The place I purchased them from says they are ready to harvest in 90 days while another site says 110 days. So I figured I would dig a few up and see what I have. Definitely interesting results.
Here are the two beds:
Here are potatoes from the bed that doesn't look too healthy. I found a lot of grubs in the soil. Also several of the roots have areas that look like they have been chewed on. I definitely need to try beneficial nematodes for a pesticide in the soil. They should rid it of the grubs.
Now the potatoes from the healthier bed. I also found a couple grubs in it but not near as many. A few of the roots have a little chew damage but not much.
I will wait a couple weeks before digging more as many of them are real small. Next time I think I need to plant them a little farther apart. Maybe even try a few in containers. Now I need to let them cure. I read they need to sit in a real warm humid place for about 10 days or so. The article said that as they cure the starches turn to sugar so they will be sweeter than if they were cooked right away. They can be cooked right away though. Maybe I'll bake a few to see the difference in taste.
That's all for now.
