My tomatoes have not taken off much. My 'Purple Cherokee' are doing the best. My green onions and carrots are doing well. The red peppers haven't done much either. My annuals are doing good though. Most of my perennials and my roses are blooming at least 2 wks late. We're finally getting average or a little above average temps, so I'm hoping everything will start growing well.

Kat

my 'Old German' looks the worst. Still, I think it will shape up and produce some good tomatoes.
I am just thrilled with this idea of planting a tommie here, a pepper there, onions around the little raised bed that I've had forever.
heck, I just might go for a real veggie garden, but for now, I am happy with the space I have.
I feel this is a 'make do' garden, and it works for me.

Pondy, I see little green peppers on most of my pepper plants! Such a good feeling. :)
Gardeners should plant things the way they like it. We're doing all the work! LOL!! I have marigolds around my veggie plot and some wave petunias that reseed every year, weave their way thru the veggies. Keep doing it the way you like it.

Kat

Not bad. I lost a few tomato plants early. Something was sneaking into the garden at night and biting right through the stem at ground level. I re-planted and put little plastic collars around the plants at ground level. Haven't lost one since. The problem was finding a place for all the seedlings! I started my own tomato seeds and had over 100 seedlings. After giving away several dozen and filling up the back garden and the spot in the side garden I'd assigned to tomatoes with about 50, I still had a dozen or so seedlings. A few went into pots and the rest found a spot where the beans didn't come up.

Ah, beans, why do you taunt me? They either come up and grow like crazy in one spot, or don't come up at all in another. Anyway the pole beans are starting to vine out and the bush beans are starting on their second set of leaves.

The potatoes are just starting to form flowers. They've been doing well. Also the garlic has been growing fantastically. I just harvested my first batch of garlic scapes last weekend. My cukes all died off (darn cool weather) so I had to re-seed. I've got a few squash plants that are doing okay. And the cantaloupe died off, too. I just think it's too cool here for the heat-loving vine-y stuff.

Mike

Right now my plants need a long drink of water. Come on rain! Dear daughter will be home today to haul the hose
around and do some weeding. Darn butter burs are all over one small veggie patch next to the garage.

I looked at purple cherokee Kat, but somehow, that color puts me off. All our indeterminates are in the second tie
ups on the 8ft stakes-all over 4 ft.

I wish I had garlic like you Mike, We use so much of it at our house, and its one of the few vegs I never grew back in the old days when I was an active gardener. Back then, once I found pole beans, never went back to the bush.
I found they want constant moisture when first planted out.
Anyway, is garlic hard to grow? Where does one find sets for those? My single cuke is doing great. It too, wants
water, water, water when a newby.

Rabbits overran my yard for 2/3 yrs, but now an owl family
and a fox or two have moved in for the food. (bunnies and goslings) Funny, but I see nearly as much wildlife here in the city, as I did out on the lake. Its like they move close to town to grocery-shop.

Hope you both have a good holiday. Pondy

pondwelr,

Garlic is not hard to grow and pretty much takes care of itself. This is my second year with it, so I'm by no means an expert. I love growing it, along with potatoes and (this year) bush beans, since my garden starts getting shade from the neighbor's house around mid-August, and those plants are usually done by about then. The Alliums forum here at Gardenweb has been a great help.

I bought 'seed' garlic bulbs from Seed Savers, but really you can use any garlic from the farmer's market or the store, as long as it's not dessicated or rotten. For the best results you plant it right after the first frost, so usually sometime in late October for me. You split up the bulbs into individual cloves and make sure to plant them stem side (pointy end) up, about 6 inches apart. Of course, the bigger cloves will produce bigger plants, so I keep the smaller ones to eat. Plant fairly deep, at least a couple of inches. Some people recommend covering it with a few inches of straw too. I've grown it with and without straw and I don't think it made much of a difference. It shouldn't sprout that year, but it will start making roots before winter freezes it. Then in spring it's one of the first things up. It's really cool watching it bust its way up through the straw. Water and weed like anything else. Fertilize early, but cut back about mid June. Around that time the scape should appear on hardneck varieties . They are curly flower pods that should be cut off and eaten. The are delicious in stir-fry or with eggs, with a mild garlic flavor. You don't want the plant to use its energy to seed, but instead to make the bulbs bigger. After the scapes are gone you'll notice that the leaves start to turn brown. You should stop watering very much at that point. When about half of the leaves are brown (anywhere from mid-July to mid August), gently dig up the whole plants and hang them in bundles somewhere cool and dry for 4-6 weeks to dry and cure the garlic. It's fine to eat without curing, and the flavor is more intense, but won't keep as long. After curing, cut off the stems and roots, take off the outside dirty layer of paper if you want, and pick out the biggest bulbs to plant again in a few months. Keep cool and dry and they'll last for about 6 months.

Good luck!

Mike

Thanx Mike for the great growing directions. I had to print it out so not to forget.
Our local Saturday Farmers Mkt has only just begun. No garlic so far.

So far, the few veggies we have are going great guns. I even picked one Patti-Pan squash. Now I cant wait to try
the other summer squash with my OWN tomatoes and onion.
(one of my fav side dishes)

I've had to water the past few days. Anyone else?

I have teeny tommies, cute little cukes, and not much doing with the peppers except blossoms.
Is anyone harvesting stuff like herbs, onions, etc?
Pondy