Garden Update

 More zucchini!

 Monster zucchini! plus a few huge straight-neck squash.

I had never seen yellow squash get this big, so I wasn't expecting it.

These have had a really mild flavor, and even on the huge ones the skin hasn't been too thick.

Jason made zucchini bread, we froze some (grated) to make more bread later, and have been putting squash in everything we can think of.

I plan to give some away this week to friends.

The whole garden: almost completely filled in.

 My beans have finally started producing.

I plan to pick some this week for dinner.

 Sunflowers oh-so-close to blooming.

Looks like in addition to the main flower head, each one will also have several surrounding smaller flowers as well. Should be pretty, if they make it before frost!

 More beans and sunflowers.

 This one should bloom by the end of the week.

 Finally! Our first ripe tomato!

It was a Cougar Red.

I did snip all the tops/ends off these tomato plants, and have been rewarded with a few starting to ripen.

The kids and I ate this one for lunch. It was delicious!

 The other side of the tomato terrace, looking down from top terrace.

Tomato cages a MUST next year!

 Mini-pumpkins taking off down the slope.

 My one little nasturtium plant is also finally blooming!

It looks pretty and the color is so vivid it stand out, even from the back deck.

 I especially like the bright orange contrasting with the squash flowers.

All the different leaf shapes are pretty, too.

Today and yesterday's harvest (minus one cucumber that we already ate--same size as these.)

First Harvest and Garden Update

This hawk is a frequent visitor to our back yard.

First harvest: zucchini and squash--what did we expect?

 

The whole garden, looking big and bushy.

I had one small tomato cage that I put a few of the branches through that were covering the walkway on the right-hand side. Next year I need to get cages and use them early on! The tomato plants are so thick that they are kind of holding each other up, but I don't think the tomatoes themselves are going to get ripe as well under all that bushiness.

I need to go through and pinch off the tops so that they have a chance of ripening before frost, at least.

 

Tiny cucumbers.

These would be a good candidate to start from seed here. They grew so fast in Missouri, usually producing and dying off by beginning of August, that I thought nothing of just planting small starts in June.

We may get a few cucumbers before frost, but it could be a close thing.

 

Sunflowers are looking healthy and beautiful, except no blossoms yet.

Bottom terrace, left side.

Cucumber is starting to fill up some space to the front.

Peppers are really struggling. Still just the one plant has any coming on it.

Bottom terrace, middle

Lemon cucumber is filling up the middle back space and coming all the way forward.

I've seen several blossoms on it, but no fruit yet either.

 Mini pumpkin plant is producing several of these cute little numbers.

All off-white, which would make them the "Baby Boo" variety, I believe.

I'll have to double check, but I think these are the ones that made good eating, too.

 This picture was to show how much the squash plants and pumpkin are taking over all available space on the top terrace. I always knew zucchini was a space hog. I'll have to get another picture to prove it, but it has almost taken up the empty space next to it (that would be a half a terrace!)

 More yellow squash coming.

  A little out of order: caged tomatoes, still green!

zukes blossoming freely