Aug 29

The squash are taking over the garden, that is the ones that haven't been killed by the squash bugs yet. I always think that I should have planted them closer together until this time of year, and I realize why I give them so much room.

The tomatoes are producing green tomatoes now. It will be a race to see if any of them ripen before the first frost. That first frost can happen any day now. We just keep our fingers crossed. I have cut the watering to almost nothing to try and stress the plants and speed up the ripening.

The second planting of corn looks great and is about 6 days from picking. No sign of ear worms yet.

The melons look great. I think that we will be eating watermelon out of the garden this year. The honeydew are loaded and the cantaloupe are not far behind them. This is a complete turnaround from last year. I posted some pictures of them at the bottom of this post.

We hauled the extra goats to the auction last week so I have lost my weed eaters. This time of year the weeds have full run of the garden. I just have to much on my plate to keep up with them.

The potato plants are dieing back, but the spuds are some of the best, if not the best we have ever grown. The extra water seems to have paid off.

Speaking of water, the irrigation water is almost next to nothing. I have been renting an extra water share and thought about letting it go this year, but I am glad I keep it. I still have enough water, but some items are only getting watered every other day such as the potatoes. The drip system is the only way that I could maintain a garden this large with as little water as is available this time of year.

The pepper plants are loaded. We are just waiting for the tomatoes to ripen before we pick any peppers.

The beans have been high producers this year. The plants are about worn out.

Aug 22

These pictures were taken right at dusk. I even used the flash on some of them.

We picked the first planting of corn this last week. It did not ripen as evenly as it should have. I am assuming that it has something to do with the wind a few weeks earlier. The ear worms are bad this year. Some ears had as many as 4 worms. The later planting should have less of a problem with the worms.

It looks as if we might get some melons this year. The watermelons are even looking promising.

The tomato plants are some of the best I have ever grown, the only problem is that I do not have many tomatoes. This seems to be a problem for most of the town

Aug 15

We bottled 55 quarts of beans this week from the first picking.

The first planting of corn is ready to pick. We had some for dinner today and it is a toss up as to which it better, the first new potatoes or the first of the corn of the season.

The tomato plants look great but they do not have many tomatoes yet. It is too hot for the fruit to set. Most years we end up with tons of green tomatoes when the first frost hits.

The pepper plants are doing well and love the hot weather. Cucumbers are loaded and it looks to be a great year for them. The cantaloupes and honeydews are also loaded with blossoms. The watermelon vines are starting to put on some growth.

Aug 8

This was a hard week for the garden. In addition to the wind on Tuesday night we had a hail storm on Thursday that punched holes in the squash leaves.

The corn is starting to recover from the wind. Most of the second planting is upright now. Some of the first planting will never recover.

The squash bugs are out of control now. I have given up trying to do anything about it. We are getting tons of zucchini but almost every day another vine starts to die off. It seems that this is a problem with many of the gardens in town.

We started picking beans. They are loaded. I should have planted the double rows one or two feet further apart. I made a note of doing that last year and forgot when I planted this year.

The carrots are doing great.

I dug the first of the Yukon Gold potatoes for dinner today. The skin seemed to just wash off as it does on new potatoes. I love this type. They are an early variety and the vines are starting to show signs of dieing back.

Aug 4

We had a high wind last night. Here are pictures of the damage.

Aug 1

I replanted 4 more rows of sugar peas. Most of these are for the goats.

The squash bugs are taking their toll on the zucchini