Woo-Hoo, we got exactly 1" of rain from a storm cloud that formed right over us and stayed there for 40 minutes last nite. Just a mile away it's still dry as a bone so this may have saved most of the gardens in our neighborhood. Now it looks like TS Cindy remains will hit us Friday with more...hopefully not too much too fast. Back to mowing the lawn and weeding LOL. vgkg

Greetings, we had one of the hottest Junes in history for the area and after a chilly spring, it sure has been an experiment.
Lettuce is just about done though some of the Red Sails was planted in shadier areas so is trying to hold up. But we're getting peppers and tomatoes earlier than ever thanks to the early heat. I've picked a few cherries which is very early for this area and several pastes as well as big ones are coming nicely.
Basil, beans and cukes are coming well. Didn't have time to do a lot with melons except drop in a few seeds. They're trying so we'll have to see. But the toms and peppers are making up the difference. It looks like the garlic will be earlier than usual as well. Have already picked a half dozen bulbs of different Chinese varieties which I'm doing for the first time and which supposedly mature early.
Enjoy.
Ellen

Vgkg,

About Passport.......It loaded up well. I believe the melons turned a little bit orangish.......it't been a while now. I remember that mine were disappointing in flavor. Perhaps [I don't know now] they need to ripen longer and then again I don't know.
I picked my first Sweet Beauty watermelon yesterday...haven't cut it yet. I have a Tiger Baby about 15 lb or so. It's strange how last year my early Tiger Baby had 6 nice sized melons and this year basically just the extra large one.
Sweet corn will be ready in a couple days or so. Tomatoes have begun...Sun Gold and Sweet 100.
Squash and melons looking good....OH, I hope they stay healthy.....so hard to do so many times in the past.
Glads are blooming with huge stalks.
Green Beans have been nice.
JBs sure like my red raspberries. I worked hard to kill those buggers........about one third of a million trapped in the past. Thousands squished, a bit of Milky Spore, and even thousands posioned.
Yes, I hope Cindy gives me some rain too. Had 2 inches a little over a week ago, but could use more in this hot weather!

Thanks for the info on Passport Wayne, mine are quite large at about 8" in diameter and deep green netted like a large unripe cantaloape. I'll keep a daily check on them for any color change. Looks like Cindy will be crawling up my side of the mountains in Va so may get 2" predicted here. Hopefully not too much at once as the melons may crack open being so close to ripening time. Also have Sweet Beauty melons for the first time here, supposed to be top notch on the brix chart according to the melon site you provided a few months ago. Looking forward to them and the other melons.
BTW> the JBs are giving me fits here too, drown at least 100 per day but putting only a dent in them. They love the grape vines and pitted fruit trees foliage the best but some have found the raspberries too. Good luck with yours, as well as everyone else.

Wondering how Wayne can be picking watermelon in zone 5b when my cucumbers in the greenhouse haven't even blossomed yet! Maybe I'm really zone 2!

Oh well, my corn was knee-high by the 4th of July (at least one of them was). I measured by standing my leg next to the biggest plant, lol.

The record heat last week (100 F+) really helped speed things up after the cold spring. But still only harvesting lettuce, peas, strawberries, and some delectable baby carrots. Nicked a few new potatoes but there weren't that many.

Bush beans have buds, can't wait! Fairy Tale eggplant in greenhouse has 2 tiny fruits growing on it. Saturating the zuchinni plants with Surround hoping to keep the cuke beetles, squash bugs, and SVBs at bay. So far so good but the plants are still quite small. Cherry tomato in the gh has some green fruits on it.

No JBs yet!

veilchen,
My first watermelon was later this year than last year. Anyway we both can be in 5b winter hardiness zone, but we are not in the same summer heat zone. NE coastal areas have cooler weather in the growing season and probably get more overcast than inland areas.

Whoa, we got 3.25" overnite here. Tornado warning posted at 1:30AM but nothing touched the ground even though radar showed the circulation almost directly overhead. 2 plots of near tasseling corn flattened to the ground and some sizable tree limbs fell all around. Was hoping for 2" of rain tops, need to watch those melons later today and try to reconstruct the corn. Cindy was too generous!...but it beats the drought. vgkg

Hi,

I haven't had much to report since we had such a late spring. I go into the garden everyday hoping to harvest SOMETHING but so far I've only had peas, lettuce and green onions. Oh...and a green pepper & 2 hot banana peppers.

My melons look beautiful and I think I'll have to cut the vines back soon or they'll be taking over my beans. I'm growing dixie speckled pea, florida speckled (pole) limas, cowpeas and cranberry beans. All are loaded w/blooms. Because of cuke beetles, I'm growing Armenian cukes this year and the vines travel much further than the pickling cukes I'm used to growing. My tomatoes look very well. Last year they were hit by one of the blights in August so I'll be watching for signs.

One thing...I haven't seen any cuke beetles or squash bugs...I know that's wierd. J beetles seemed late to arrive but the last few days they've decimated my kiwi vine. 1st time I've seen them on that. Last yr I grew grandpa ott's morning glory that seems to have been a preferred food for them. This year I've pulled 1000's of seedlings from that little (misad) venture. NEVER AGAIN!! And I've already drowned 1000's of JB's which gives me great pleasure. Also, I'm seeing some M. bean beetles for the 1st time in 4 yrs. They like my speckled peas. Oh, I found a juvenile assassin bug in my melon patch the other day. Hopefully he has brothers & sisters hiding under the leaves laying in wait....

Vgkg, we got about the same amount of rain you did on Friday. That was a real boost to the garden. However the soggy ground caused some of my sunflowers to fall on their pretty faces. (:>)

Happy gardening!

Hey Peggy! My garden is late as well, it makes me feel better that someone in z.6 is still waiting for things to grow. Sometimes it feels like all of you live in the tropics compared to me!

Finally getting enough baby potatoes for a harvest. Cherry tomatoes in gh still green, Opalkas outside only about 2' high. Just a few baby peppers developing. Fairy Tale eggplant in gh has some small fruits on it, but I had to remove it from the gh because I noticed it was infested with spidermites! Gave it the hose treatment, but they've probably migrated to the tomato and cuke plant in the gh. Oh what fun greenhouse growing is! I rarely get spidermites outside in the garden.

I have been dousing my squash plants with Surround (still holding out hope this is a cure for nearly every bug in the garden). No squash bugs, cuke beetles, or SVBs spotted yet, but this could be a coincidence re: Peggy doesn't have them yet either.

Sugar snap peas about done, the vines look ratty but they're still kicking out blossoms. Snow peas still producing. This is a dilemma for me because usually by now I have a few open beds to begin mid-summer or fall crops. I really don't have any open space available because most the spring crops I planted are still producing. By this time of year I am usually planting more beans, carrots, potatoes, etc., and even a 2nd crop of squash. I don't think I'll be getting a 2nd crop of squash in, the first one just started blossoming.

Onions look good, waiting for garlic to be ready. I realized the other day that I had forgotten to "hill" my leeks. Piled up soil/mulch as far as I could up the stalks, hope it's not too late.

Weather varying between too hot and too cold. Have had several days where temp neared or surpassed 100. Interspersed with sweatshirt-wearing weather. Plenty of rain so far.

Hey there Peggy, glad things are going well up there, maybe more downpours for us this week from ol' Dennis leftovers.
Veilchen, any JBs up there yet to try out your bug vacuum on? A tip - JBs are much easier to "collect" just before dark, they don't seem to want to leave the plant at that time. During the day it's "fly away and come back" mode when they see me coming. But at dusk (the darker the better) they appear asleep at the wheel and easy pickins'.

Only found a total of 4 JBs so far. Yes, when we had large #s I would only pick them when the sun wasn't out. Couldn't stand how they would fly off and sometimes land on me (did I tell ya I got bit by one before?).

Hey Vgkg, would you like to know how your garden was growing on June 3, 01?

Click the link and scroll down to vegetable gardening.

Here is a link that might be useful: Take a look

LOL Peggy, sounds like I keep repeating myself - no doubt. How did you obtain that? I'd like to russle up some old threads from the past too. vgkg

It's called web.archive.org. It goes back to '96 which was 5 yrs before I found GW. Good ole albert 135 posted it on the "suggestions & comments" forum. I couldn't access many of them and there aren't that many there. Sometimes it will say it can't find the archived version. It's interesting to see which forums were around back then tho.

Hey, I forgot to mention Ellen zn5 NY was in that old thread too.

Here is a link that might be useful: Albert's post

Thanks Peggy but I couldn't figure it out (normal for me, ha).

Now picking Passport Honeydews every day, fridge filling up fast. The cantloapes and watermelons still have a ways to go yet. Picking corn #2 now (candy king). Still liked the 1st corn Bon Apete' better as the CK ears are skinny with fewer rows. Still pretty good but BP is better. Corn #3 is now post pollination and ears are swelling (it's called "Frosty"), 1st time growing it so it better be good cause I got 6 rows out there. 4th corn is Ambrosia (stumbled across some seed late so cancened Silver King planting). Ambrosia is starting to peek out tassles now. Corn #5 is also Ambrosia (I really like this corn but couldn't find the seed for 3 years - sold locally now at Southern States Coop). Both Ambrosia and Bon Apete' are se bicolors and it'll be real close as to which one is the better.

Still battling JBs here, they're turning my grape, cherry, plum foliage into lace :o(

Wow Vgkg, you're definitely a few weeks ahead of me. My melons aren't even baseball size yet. I picked my 1st diva cukes over the weekend. They're very tasty and if the cuke beetles don't bother them, that's what I'll grow from now on.

I'm finally eating some fresh produce!! I harvested a couple of sungolds yesterday. Ummmm, sooo good. I harvested a nice mess of cranberry beans. I'll be cooking them up tonight. Peppers, especially hot banana is coming in faster than I can use them up.

The JB's moved in here about 2 weeks ago. They ate all my roses...what few I have. Then they had group s*x on my kiwi vines before moving onto my plums and cherries. For some strange reason, they aren't attacking my newly planted grapes YET. I collected several hundred of the nasties and drown them in soapy water. DO dead JB's smell foul or what??! That's it, I'm considering milky spore now. I didn't know they bite.

I wish I could grow corn...:( Not enough space...UNLESS I dig up more yard. hmmmm...

I've linked the main page of GW @ webarchive.org below. Don't feel bad, I had a hard time figuring it out too.

Even so...the dates you see aren't always the ones you click onto. It's kinda confusing to me. (normal for me, ha).

Happy gardening!

HI Peggy, missed the link?
We pick a good bowl full of Sungolds daily now and most of them end up here at work. The Big tomatoes (BWs CPs) are slow coming but a lot of them out there, had to apply dust to them though due to the fruitworms attacking, lost serveral nice size greenies :o(..
Also had to pick a large watermelon last nite because it was getting sunscald on top, hope it was ready but won't know till opened. It's too big for the fridge (~40#?).

Oops...grin:)

Here is a link that might be useful: Web archive

Congrats vgkg on the ~40 lb watermelon, hope it's ripe.

Peggy, good luck with the milky spore, it didn't seem to help in my yard.

The JBs are making a comeback here, have picked far more than we saw last year. So much for hoping for their extinction, at least in my neighborhood! Mostly on my raspberries, a few stragglers on my roses but no major damage (yet). Still nothing like in years past, if so, I wouldn't be growing roses anymore.

Finally picked my first batch of zuchinni last night. Dug up the peas last week and planted some seed potatoes. Sowed more carrots and Provider bush beans (1st batch is going gangbusters).

The few baby peaches that were present on our 2nd year Reliance are gone. Probably the @#mn squirrels.

Hot hot hot here, 90s every day. Hard to get any work done.

Hot here too. Good rainfall and things are like a jungle...tomatoes in cages are kinda grown together....hard to find the maters. I love it though to see everything so healthy. Cantaloupes getting ripe quickly now. Those Pulsars are huge. My favorite [Sugar Queen] is a later type. A couple or more large watermelons [Sangria, Fiesta, and Carnival] have brown tendrils. UH, I will let them stay on just a little longer...right Vgkg.??

Yes Right Wayne!, it turned out my 40# needed 3 more days to fully ripen even though it was getting sunscald (feeding compost pile now). It was a Tendersweet (orange inside), it's supposed to be orange but was still tart. Oddly, 2 more different varities are also orange inside (these were ripe) but they were supposed to be red. Any way cross pollination would change flesh color? always thought that would result from the seed next year. Haven't opened a Yellow Doll yet, maybe tonite.

Update, ate corn #3 last nite (Frosty se, white) and it was good, sweet, and tender, but not as sweet as the Bon Apette' bi-color. The 4th corn - Ambrosia is now silking up.
Overflowing in honeydews, cantaloapes, cukes, and tomatoes now. Summer squash winding down under attack by SVBs, etc.
Winter Squash & Pumpkins taking over now.
Started my broccoli & cabbage seeds indoors over the weekend for the upcoming fall garden.

Late July report.......harvesting Ambrosia planting #3.
Incredible yellow nearly ready
2 out of 4 onion varieties are curing
didn't like festina green bean
cantaloupes ripening and are huge this year
Large watermelons being harvested now...brought in 27 pound SF#790HQ today with nice melons out there
looks like a very nice sized Orangeglo out there....this one will be good because of its healthy size [small melons usually just don't have the flavor and texture]---- the Alpha watermelon is usually the best flavored
tomatoes are super
squash are extra vigorous

All in all, things really are growing well