A Day Late and A Dollar Short

Well... that is an expression that I heard my grandfather say more than once. I am a day late for Harvest Monday but I didn't want to miss another week of sharing with my Garden Blog Friends. Also, it has been a while since I linked to Tuesday Garden Party.

I spent most of Monday at the doctor's office. I am now on limited activity until surgery sometime later this month. Surgery will keep me down for a few more weeks. This means NO gardening for me and I will need to depend on my family to keep an eye on things. I still have tomatoes, cucumbers, okra, green beans, and peppers growing in the garden. Eventually I will need to remove plants that are no longer producing and I MUST get my garlic and a few other things planted in the garden. I may have to pass on a few things that I had planned for my fall/winter garden this year.

This is my harvest from Wednesday. It seems like it took FOREVER for these peppers to turn a GOLDEN color.

We have had 109 days of 90+ degrees weather. Long HOT summer!! And we have had less than a half inch of rain for the last month! So HOT and DRY!! But finally that came to an end yesterday. The high was in the mid 80s and lows in the mid 50s. NICE! Still no rain and none in the near future. I think the Energizer Bunny tomato plant is enjoying the cooler weather. It has its second wind. My youngest son picked 66 cherry tomatoes yesterday. They were so pretty!! He told me there were a few that he couldn't reach. He was very proud of his harvest!! He even shared a few with me.

Harvest totals for the week:
Okra 101.85 oz
Cherry Tomatoes 12.2 oz
Bell Peppers 6.9 oz
Cucumbers 15.7 oz
Green Beans 4.1 oz
TOTAL 140.75 oz = 8.8 lbs

Blessings,

Debbie

I HAVE GRANDBABIES.... of the Garden Kind!

Well.... what do you call the fruit from the suckers rooted from your tomato plants?

The cherry tomato plant of unknown variety that I have dubbed "the Energizer Bunny" continues to produce. I have now harvested 201 tomatoes from this plant and it continues to go strong. I have had to be creative in staking it since it was NEVER supposed to get this big. I think it likes being planted next to my okra.

And now the suckers that I rooted earlier in the season have fruit and the first one is starting to ripen. YEAH!

I actually have 2 suckers that have fruit. In the picture below, the suckers are in the front and the original plant is in the back.

I hope the sucker plants produce like the original plant. AND... I hope that if I save seeds I will get more of this plant next year.

Enjoy more gardens at the Tuesday Garden Party and Oh, How My Garden Grows.

Blessings,

Debbie

 

Criminal Investigation

While enjoying a stroll through my garden, I stopped in my tracks when I saw...

THE EVIDENCE

(that a crime had been committed)

I franticly started searching for....

THE VICTIM

(beautiful tomato leaves cut short in the prime of their life)

So the hunt began. I knew the dark pellets that looked like tiny grenades were left behind by none other than "The Evil Tomato Hookworm." I searched and searched and stopped only to capture....

A CRIMINAL ON THE MOST WANTED LIST

(THE ARMYWORM)

Back to the hunt. Finally...

CAUGHT IN THE ACT

(Tomato Hookworm aka Hornworm)

The criminal was quickly apprehended, found guilty, and sentenced to...

DEATH BY TENNIS SHOE

(aka "The Victory Dance")

Hope this wasn't too boring. I hate most worms in my garden. Join other gardeners at the TUESDAY GARDEN PARTY and  OH, HOW MY GARDEN GROWS!

Blessings,

Debbie

Do Frogs Eat Aphids

I found another frog sitting on an okra leaf as if he had found a giant lily pad. I searched the net and can you believe that some people grow aphids to feed to frogs!! I sure hope that all the frogs that I am seeing in the garden will keep the aphids out!!!

The cantaloupe has reached the top of the trellis. I find myself looking at it and thinking... REACH FOR THE SKY!!

Check out the Tuesday Garden Party at An Oregon Cottage and Oh, How My Garden Grows!

Blessings,

Debbie

     

I LOVE SURPRISES!

 I love surprises!! Well... good surprises!!! I have been away from my computer for a few days and I was sad to miss Monday Harvest,  Oh, How My Garden Grows, and the Tuesday Garden Party. We were out of town for Independence Day and then I needed to make an unplanned trip out of town and left Monday afternoon and returned Wednesday afternoon. Needless to say, I was eager to get to my garden. A very special lady (my precious mother-in-love) arrived at the house for a visit about the same time I arrived home yesterday. Since she loves plants as much as I do and since we both needed to stretch our legs after driving, we eagerly headed out to the garden. I was excited to harvest 29 cherry tomatoes from the Energizer Bunny bush. I also harvested 5 okra pods. But my biggest delight was my find while showing my MIL the cantaloupe growing on the trellis. I showed her the one that I have eagerly been watching and blogging about. I told her that I was surprised to have only 1 "big" melon growing but I was glad to have smaller ones growing, too. As I was moving the leaves around to show her the trellis, I FOUND THIS SURPRISE . . .

And, yes, I shook my head and blinked my eyes a few times to make sure I wasn't seeing things! This guy is bigger than the other one. It is about the size of a softball or grapefruit. Yippee!!! I don't know HOW I missed this one. (It is located on the back side of the trellis on the fence side.) I will definitely be in the store today to get the pantyhose to sling the two cantaloupes. Thanks, EG, for your education on slinging melons on a trellis.


Blessings,


Debbie

         

It's Raining!!!

It's raining! Not just a quick heavy downpour that only lasts a few minutes but a nice soaking rain!! I think I hear my garden giving a sigh of relief. Wait! What's that I see? It's the leaves doing the HAPPY DANCE!!! Or maybe it is me doing the HAPPY DANCE because I don't have to go and water my garden this evening!! (smile)

Things continue to grow. I am so excited about this little guy. When I asked my youngest if she wanted to see the cantaloupe this morning, she asked, "Did it grow overnight?" Hmmm.... Was she excited or sarcastic? Doesn't matter... she smiled, grabbed my hand, and strolled with me to the garden. I love my kids!!!

Yesterday I rooted several suckers from my cherry tomato plant. I love these little tomatoes and I am amazed at all the tomatoes on this one plant. I wish I knew how to save the seeds (if possible) for next year. I also transplanted 3 green bell pepper plants and 1 eggplant that I bought at Lowes. I was also surpised to see that the cucumber, crooked neck squash, and the white scalloped squash seeds that I planted 4 days ago were already peaking up at me from their underground nest. WOW! That was so fast!!

Today I planted 12 squares of bush beans. I hope that the heat will not be too much for them. We shall see. If they do, super. If they don't, nothing lost really. I can replant again for fall.

Over the weekend, I planted these flowers! They seemed perfect to celebrate Independence Day!

This post is linked to the An Oregon Cottage's TUESDAY GARDEN PARTY

and Oh, How My Garden Grows.

Blessings,

Debbie