I had to go out and pull one of the cabbage-mustard-lettuce things from the garden because it had bolted (as in, was taller than my daughter), but I’m pleased with how everything else is doing. I plucked red leaf lettuce for salad, harvested all two of my green beans, and took pictures of things yet to come.
Not one, but two baby pumpkins. (I thought at first this was a zucchini plant, and I suppose it could be, but those look too round and not long enough to be zukes. Also, they didn’t go from baby to “too big to eat” overnight.)
Tomatoes — cherry and Roma!
A baby watermelon.
I think baby cantaloupes, maybe?
I’m pretty excited by this. Every previous year that I’ve planted vines, they died, so to have not one but three different plants with fruit is pretty awesome. I think I need more tomato plants next year, though. And basil!
Nice. It’s exciting to see things growing.
Thanks. As I said, I haven’t had too much luck with gardening here in PA (except for things that are plant-and-forget, like peonies), so I’m very happy now.
Lovely! I’m glad the garden’s going well for you this year.
Thanks! Me, too. Trying the straw bales as a substitute for raised beds was an experiment (“Oh, sure, they say it’ll work, but will it for me?”), so I’m doubly excited.
Wow, those straw beds really bloomed :).
One thing about pumpkins though…depending on the insects you have crawling your beds, sometimes the pumpkins (and others like them) won’t get fertilized and so don’t grow past that point (something I learned to my frustration when growing things with the boys).
However, there’s never a problem without a solution :). Take an artist’s paint brush and swipe the tall pollen stems then brush the pollen over the center of the flower with the gourd beneath. Works like a charm. I used the short, stiff bristled paint brush, but any might work.
We don’t seem to have that problem in Reno, but in Fremont we did, so whether you will or not, I can’t predict.
Enjoy the fruits of your labors.
Mar, most of the flowers aren’t being fertilized and fruiting at all; they simply wither away. Thus, I’m going on the assumption that these fruits have already been fertilized.
Well, we got them to the stage of that photo but they never grew anything past that until the year I started manual fertilization. It probably isn’t necessary, but thought I’d pass the tip anyway because it was frustrating at first :).
Zucchini comes in rounds. You can find green and yellow ones at the Farmer’s Markets. I like them since they are easy to fix, no stuffing for me!. Just right for a one-person household. I would buy them at the market we went to when you were here. Didn’t see any that day.
Yes, there are round squash and patty pans and all sorts of variations. But zucchini grow fast. You do recall all the stuffed zucchini boats we ate because we let them go “just one more day”?
I have a hard time with the patty pans, never sure how to fix them. Don’t get them anymore. Hun liked them.
Your last question: Maybe . . . .