Garden 2018 Update - Part 1

Some of you have been asking for a garden update, so here are some snapshots from over the past month! The thing about not posting the pictures right away is they quickly become outdated, in terms of growth. But this will give you an idea of what we've been cultivating and harvesting here at Mountain Musings.

Below are some of the tomato plants tied up with the Florida weave method of support which I'm trying this year. They've since doubled in size and I've tied them up twice more.

Here are the tomatos from another angle after being mulched with grass clippings. You can see newly planted hills of pumpkins in the background, along with young purple-hull pea plants:

After a wind storm, the corn was flattened, but 5 days later it was back growing strong and upright again.

Summer squash producing abundantly:

A few of the myriad of flowers around the perimeter of our vegetable gardens:

I've been picking and freezing gallons of wonderful blueberries:

The green beans, peppers, and cucumbers have been producing very well:

We've been enjoying loads of fresh veggies. It's been a very productive season!

Mom's recent birthday called for a large bouquet of flowers picked just for the special occasion:

I hope to show you more photos soon! What's your favorite summer vegetable or flower?

~Hannah

Comments

[ANA]

WOW HANNA PARECE QUE HAN ESTADO TRABAJANDO Y MUCHO, CUANTAS BENDICIONES QUERIDA, SE VE EL FRUTO DE SU TRABAJO, SON MUY BENDECIDOS¡¡¡ ¿FUE EL CUMPLEAÑOS DE DEB? NO LO SABIA, LE ENVIO UN GRAN ABRAZO, ESPERO QUE PUBLIQUE ALGUNAS FOTOS DE ESA OCACION ESPECIAL. BENDICIONES FAMILIA GIROTTI.

[Barbara J.]

Oh, Hannah, your garden makes me hungry! I love summer squash fresh out of the garden plus lots of other vegetables. We have not had good luck with our little garden this year - too much rain early and then super high temperatures. I miss all the things we grew in north Georgia! Thanks for sharing.

[Doris Epps]

Hi Hannah. Beautiful garden. How does your rhubarb plants look now. I plant one rhubarb plant and it had a few stalks and I cut them off. Now I think my plant is dead. There is nothing there now. Do they die back in the summer and come out again the winter of the next year?
Thank for sharing .

[Toots]

Such a wonderful harvest for all of your hard work. One of my favorite things to eat in summer is garden tomatos and cucumbers in Italian dressing-Yum.

[Victoria]

Hannah, your garden is amazing this year. My favorite veggie has always been asparagus, but that isn't a summer crop. Green beans top my list at this time of year. Love your blueberries!

[Holly]

I'll skip the veggies and head right for the flowers, especially since mine would do better this year if they were water lilies. ;) I am loving the Hollyhocks, clematis, shasta daisies, lilies, phlox, bee balm, million bells, iris... oh, well, I like most flowers as long as they aren't yellow or orange. I have a firm policy of demolition when it comes to yellow or orange surprises. Ugh! My mom keeps trying to convince me...and sends me horticultural goodies...that sometimes include the wrong colors. ;)

[Hannah]

Ana, thank you for your note. We are enjoying the fruits of our labors. Yes, it was (my mom) Deb's birthday the beginning of this month.

Barbara,
Glad you enjoyed the garden pictures, and so sorry your garden didn’t fare well with the weather! Our summer squash is doing especially well this year, so we’re thankful.

Doris,
Thank you, Doris. Sorry your plants look like they didn’t make it…. I’m attaching a photo of what my rhubarb looks like now. The plants usually brown a bit, and the flower stalks it sent up died, but there is still some green. I think your plant may have been too young and needed establishing, only cutting a small percent of the stalks to use and letting the rest grow til next year. The very first year we planted rhubarb I don’t think I harvested any, the following year, maybe a third of the plant. I hope your plant survives!

Aunt Toots,
Oh, that sounds very good! I’ll have to make that combination soon. :)

Thanks, Victoria! Mom loves asparagus, too. :) We have enjoyed cooking green beans this season in our Instant Pot pressure cooker – delicious!

Holly,
Haha! Loved your list of beautiful blooms.

[Joanna Donahue]

Hannah,

Do you ever have trouble with Vine Borers killing your squash plants? All of mine died because of those pesky bugs.

Do you fertilize your raise beds with anything?

[Hannah]

Joanna, yes...borers every year. :P Sorry your plants suffered the same! I have sometimes tried digging the larvae out and burying the stem, but the borers tend to get the upper hand and my plants suddenly die. I have heard that possibly covering the young plants with row covers early in the season may prevent the bugs, so that’s something to try. Amazingly, so far this year, my plants are living and seem to not have the borers.

For fertilizing, I usually add supplements like bloodmeal/bonemeal at time of planting. One year I attempted compost tea. This year I was using up a bag of general Plant-tone garden fertilizer along with the bloodmeal/bonemeal combo, so added that sparingly.

[Carolyn]

Hi, Hannah, It was so good to see you and your family on Saturday!
We, too, have had an abundance of garden veggies!!!
I think my favorite things in the garden is...umm..probably...tomatoes, because we LOVE tomato sandwiches on toasted bread, Dukes mayonaise, garlic salt, pepper and fresh basil. It is sooo good! However, we also LOVE jalapeno poppers cooked in my air fryer! Delicious! I love cucumbers salads also. This year, we have gotten tons of blackberries! I think I have frozen about 16-18 quarts, given some away and made 2 blackberry cobblers! So, it is like you said, a very bountiful year! God is so good!

[Carolyn]

Oh, I forgot! My favorite flower is hydrangea and zinneas....I think! I love them all!!!

Please tell your Mom I said Happy Birthday! I forgot to tell her.

[Carol Blair]

Interesting article -- "The Chemistry of Rhubarb."

http://www.compoundchem.com/2015/04/16/rhubarb/