July Garden Update

The gardens are doing fabulously!  It is so great working from home because I am definitely spending more time tending, weeding, watering and feeding than I otherwise would.  Between not having the commute, not being stressed and tired from dealing with people and being able to take 10-15 minute breaks outside with the dogs and weed a patch or prune or whatever, I am able to pay better attention to them.

I've harvested tons of lettuce, sugar snap peas, radishes, arugula and herbs.  My beets were a bust.  They started to bolt so I picked them.  The roots were lame but we ate the greens, which are yummy.  Always eat the greens of your root veggies if you can.  They are delicious and actually the healthiest part of the plant.  I also pickled the stems which taste like a cross between celery and beet.  Very crunchy, earthy and tasty as a pickle.

Lame beets.

Lettuces, spinach & chard.

Now I'm getting herbs, zucchini, cucumbers, some peppers and the the last of the peas. 

Lime green scallop zucchini, Anaheim pepper, cuke, sugar snaps & regular zukes.

Now onto new pictures of the garden.  The weather has been great for growing and yesterday Fay came thru and dropped a ton of rain so the plants will explode with produce in the next two weeks.  I am beyond excited!

Tomatoes, cucumber to the right in a random mammoth sunflower growing in the center.

Herbs, lettuces, chard, green onions, two sad eggplants being
 eaten by flea beetles and spent sugar snap pea vines.

Green beans, arugula, basil, garlic chives, green onions and some other herbs. 

Lemon cucumber, a variety of edible flowers and herbs and 
another random small sunflower.

Other side of the above garden showing the strawberries
and a couple of the lemon cukes growing.

Peppers, green beans, and zucchini.

Purple cone flower, bee balm, lemon balm, lavender hyssop,
chamomile, honeynut winter squash and blueberry bushes.

Wildflowers, milkweed, edible flowers, shiso, sunflower
that I actually planted, and runaway pumpkins steam rolling
over my flowering quince shrubs.

Happy pumpkins (red warty variety) and green beans somewhere back there.

More of the runaway pumpkins , flowering quince and two more sunflowers that I actually planted.

That whole side garden.  I actually planted sunflowers all along the
back edge, but only 3 survived the birds and bugs.

Baby pumkpin!!!!!

Now on to the pots of plants.  

Catnip - kitties and bees LOVE it!

Sad looking but productive little potted fig tree.

Bay leaf tree that I've had for probably 15 years.   
This comes inside in the winter. Fresh bay leaf cannot be beat. 
Highly recommend.

Bee balm, tomato, basil (can you tell I love basil) and lavender.

Lettuces, and yes, more basil.

What are you growing this year?  Are you successfully battling the slugs, birds, beetles and caterpillars?

I hope you enjoyed the tour and that your garden's are doing well. 🌿🌻🌿🌼