Mid August Garden Report
I promised only one garden report a month. So, this will be the third one - I’ve written one on June 14, then July 14 and now August 14.
Things are coming along. This summer has not been as hot as some previous ones (like last year!), but I’m certainly okay with that.
However, it does mean the corn is slower at developing. That’s ok. Last year it was ready before I even realized it! This year with the corn planted with black plastic, I’m not having to water as often.
However, as I work on finalizing this post, we are expecting some very, very hot weather this week. This means I must keep on top of the water for the whole garden.
I made a short 30 second video for you showing the tassels and then the silk - as this is where the corn kernels form.
And fertilizer.
I see that I need to add some fertilizer - as some of the plants are looking a little lighter green - and they should be a nice dark green.
My devotion to charity quilting this month of August means that I haven’t had the time to do all the weeding I should have been doing. It’s also getting hard to even get in the garden.
This year I planted two plantings and I’m not sure I will get corn from the second one. We’ll see. In this photo, the second planting is in the front of the photo and the taller is the first planting. Something happened to my taller corn the past couple of weeks and it started to shoot up!
The green beans that I planted are growing every which way - they are supposed to go up the fence. I need to tie them to the fence to get them to actually climb it. They are trying to go the opposite way.
I’ve tied some of the beans to the fence. This week I’ll be in the garden daily to tie the rest as they grow longer. This way they can grow up, up and up.
I planted some hot cherry peppers. So far the plants are looking okay but the little cherry peppers are pretty small. Hopefully the weather will hold off long enough so I can get them. I do have a lot of flowers, however.
I have quite a few cherry tomatoes on various plants - all in pots. They are all starting to sort of look sick. Hopefully I will get some tomatoes out of them before the vines die off completely. I’ll give them some more fertilizer and see if that helps at all. I was given an heirloom tomato plant (several of them). I do have one nice sized tomato - at least.
The flowers are growing fine.
I have the ones that I planted in the cement ring - and they are filling it quite nicely. I am going to not ignore begonias again. They are hardy, colorful little plants. They are going to be my friends from now on!
Zucchini and squash look ok.
Since I’ve been growing them more lately - and I’ve also been learning as a gardener. I used to fret that they got this white on the leaves - a wilt. However, as I’ve been watching various gardeners and even farmers, I’ve come to grips with the idea that plants have a life cycle. The normal life cycle is to grow, produce and then taper off producing. Then, zucchini tends to have this wilt happen to the leaves - esp. if it is wet a lot. And it’s been wet a lot lately.
So, I decided to do a second planting - planting the seeds on July 3. I have 12 plants - 4 green zucchini, 4 yellow zucchini, and 4 crook neck squash. They are coming along well. I’m hoping they will start to produce right at the end of August. Once again, I will give them a good watering the day you read this and some fertilizer. This part of the garden is not shaded, so that is good. We have a nice big tree oak tree right in the garden area, so it does make it a bit hard to get completely open land that doesn’t get shade.
My pumpkins continue to grow.
I have all kinds of pumpkins coming. I have green, yellow and green, small sugar sweet, a couple of larger ones, some jack-be-little and then some I really don’t know where or what they are.
By now the vines are taking over pretty much everywhere and it is getting harder to walk around the garden.
I can still get through here and as some of the leaves begin to die down, it does create some room. However, there are parts that just are so thick I dare not go through there lest I step on a pumpkin!
Each year I try to plan it better, and maybe I am, but I manage to forget which kind of pumpkin I have when it comes time to plant
So I have big ones climbing the fence whereas I wanted the little ones climbing the fence and the large ones on the ground. However, I do have at least a couple of the small ones near the fence.
This year I didn’t make the mistake of not planting enough orange pumpkins. Last year I had every color BUT orange, it seemed.
Last year I only got about 4 of these little Jack-Be-Little pumpkins off my plants. I had gotten a late start since my daughter brought me the seeds on June 17. This year I brought them back from the states with me and planted plenty.
I do not know how to explain how much I love growing pumpkins and squash. They grow well for me and I get enough to share with neighbors and friends, and that makes me so very happy! They are so fun to see grow and ripen in the garden!
I suppose those of you who garden understand the thrill. The rest of you - just be assured, it is just as much fun as watching a quilt top come together - but you actually just watch it happen day by day while not actually doing it yourself.
Of course, you have to provide the conditions conducive to growth, naturally, which for most of us, doesn’t happen without effort!
I had one plant that sent shoots through the fence and before I could thread it back through the fence (on the front by the busy road), it had formed a rather large pumpkin making it impossible to send back through. If the gov’t decides to mow the grass there before I harvest that pumpkin, well, their mower will make shredded pumpkin of it.
Here are some on the back of the garden that are outside the fence. They seem determined to grow out there. There was also a rather large pumpkin that formed so we obviously left it there. Hopefully someone won’t take it. Last year they didn’t when I had some outside the fence.
Also…this one was growing on the fence. I have been afraid that it is going to rip down as it gets bigger and bigger, so I just rigged up a sling for it. Hopefully the plastic won’t wear out before the end of the season. If I see it getting weak, I may replace it with fabric.
I hope you have enjoyed seeing these growing things here in Poland.
I’ve been able to share my zucchini and some squash with people here. So far this year I’ve had nothing like the crop I had last year. It may be because I put them under the tree - won’t do that again. However the second planting won’t be.
Thanks so much for coming along with me on this journey!
Have a great day wherever you are reading this!
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