Wow, very nice!

I'm amazed by your pepper report... I think my peppers must all be way behind, because I've only gotten one shishito (though there're a few more on the plant that I need to harvest).

I've had tons of (volunteer) lettuce, lots of radishes, one carrot and one beet... and there's a zucchini that needs harvesting tomorrow with more on the way. Most of my squash have been flowering for a while now, but this will be the first fruit.

My tomatoes are also behind yours, but I'm cheering them on and hoping they catch up! :)

Thanks, Oladon! My peppers seem to be a bit ahead this season, but everything else is actually behind, especially the squash. No flowers yet, but I also had to re-seed them because the birds took out my first seedlings. That set me back about two weeks.

It's still early and the forecast looks good for the most part, so everything should continue to do well in the coming weeks!! :)

Eriely beauuutiful!

In all the best ways.

I enjoyed the photos and information in the tomato forum!

Steve

Thanks, susan! I had a hard time getting motivated earlier this season, but now that the garden is doing so well, I've kind of gotten the itch back (in a good way, of course). This is my first successful season with beans and holy smokes they produce FAST once they begin flowering. I think I'm going to be overrun shortly.

Haha, thanks Steve! Yes, it is going quite well so far this season! I seem to have very good luck with tomatoes and peppers, but everything else gives me dramatically different results each season. Oh well, it makes for fun bartering! :)

Cheers!

This is how my Aurora garden is coming along so far this year.

Peppers and eggplants are looking ok though they seem a bit behind

Leeks and onions are looking good. Onions are starting to bulb up. Probably need to thin out the leeks some.

Potato plants are flowering and starting to fall over. Hoping for a good harvest of spuds.

The rest of the peppers, basil and a tomato plant.

Pole beans are racing to the top of the 7 foot trellis.

Nasturtium (being attacked by flea beetles), carrots, beets and lettuce under shade.

The grape vine.

Sunflowers and buckwheat not yet flowering

The asparagus bed that we call Cousin It.

The new currant bush and some shallots.

The pear tree with no fruit this year. Never saw any flowers.

Horseradish (in a sunken containers) and rhubarb.

Lettuce, beets, lavender and arugula.

no pics as I am getting ready to head out of town again. I have eaten a few Sungolds and picked my first full-size tomotoes today - a KBX and a Black from Tula. both need a day or two on the counter. Note these two are ahead of "Early" Girl.

One of my 9 tomato plants looks like it caught some wind-born weed killer and may not make it.

I am trying 8 diiferent pole bean varieteis this year and the Trionfo Violetto are off to the fastest start. Just baby beans, though.

I planted squash late, but have several babies out there. My pepper plants are variable.

Jerry

Lookin' good, gjcore!!! Your garden looks to be very productive this season!! Hopefully we'll all get some much-needed rain over the coming weeks! That always seems to boost everything nicely! Your asparagus bed is unbelievable and I'm jealous you even have nasturtiums. I can't get mine to do anything at all, even germinate. Don't know what the problem is! If you end up with too many leeks, I'd be happy to take some off your hands. I tried last season and failed. Maybe in 2018.

Wow, Jerry, you're already in ripe tomatoes? When did you transplant? My first tomato last season was Stupice on July 14, but I was harvesting many beefsteaks by the end of July. Won't probably get my first one this season until August, though the plants appear much healthier because they haven't seen any hail damage (knock on wood). I think I have one that got weed killer, too, but haven't removed it just yet. Some of the lower suckers look decent, but another week should tell me if it's even worth it..

I have been getting my first beans this week - I've not had much luck the past few seasons, but this year looks pretty good. I can't believe how fast they go from baby bean to full size. They're gonna keep me busy!

The first ripe tomato will be a Sun Sugar cherry!

The plant is in 5 gallons of good compost in my backyard. That's a much more protected environment than the open garden, altho the 25mph wind gusts this afternoon might make one wonder!

There's no question that I will have a golden ripe tomato this month ... if DW or the squirrel don't get it first!

Steve

Looks delicious, Steve! I'm amazed some of you are already getting ripe tomatoes! When did you plant your Sun Sugar? Is it in a 5-gallon bucket? Smart Pot? If in a container, do you find compost works okay in a container? I've never tried, but I've heard it compacts badly..

I will admit I've been harvesting my Hahms Gelbe micro tomatoes for several months, but I started them indoors in January and they began producing ripe fruit in April under my grow lights. They aren't doing as well outdoors this summer, but I suspect it's because I rushed their hardening off. They're still producing quite well, but the plants are much less hardy than last year. Oh well. Still looking forward to my first ripe beefsteak!

Those Sun Sugar seeds went into the soil mix about the first of March, Nbm81.

Sometime in May, the plant was finally moved to a 5gal tree pot.

The compost is my own. It probably has a fair amount of soil in it. I have tried several things: mixing garden soil with peat moss and organic fertilizer, mixing garden soil 50:50 with compost, and using just my compost. So far, 100% compost has worked best. I may have to add more at the top a little later. You know, decomposition of organic matter is never finished until it's powder or fossilized ...

Steve

Hi Nick,

Sorry for the slow response. I don't have the exact date, but I think it was in the May 10-15 and I used wall-o-waters that stood up fine to that late snow. I do use bamboo sticks to make tee pee inside the WOW. I have not had any more to pick but next week should bring quite a few.

Our tomatoes are going strong, lots of green fruit... and the Sun Gold has started getting some color, so it won't be long!

Summer squash got a late start thanks to that May snow, so it's just flowering now. Winter squash is vining like crazy and some are flowering, too. We also have baby cucumbers on the vine.

Carrots got great germination this year, maybe due to the wet spring? Not sure, but I'm excited to have lots of garden carrots!

It's all soundin' good, Steve! I would make my own compost, but I don't really have a good place for it and I do know it doesn't work well in self-watering containers, so I don't know how useful it would be for me anyway.

Sounds like you've got yours right where you need it - excited to see how it does for you as the season progresses!

I've heard good things about the WOWs, Jerry. Makes sense that you were able to get them about 3 weeks earlier than me - that's about how long I have to go before I get into ripe maters. Do you use them at all for fall veggies? I would imagine they'd work well for all types of different plants in the germination/seedling stage..

Alyssa, share some photos! We'd all love to see! My squash are doing much better this season, but still have yet to flower. I'm giving up on cukes for a few seasons because they're always iffy for me. I love home grown carrots, but with my garden almost exclusively in containers, they're almost not worth it.. I only have enough container space for enough carrots for 2-3 meals.

I would post photos but I'm out of town right now... getting home late tonight, hopefully I'll get some pics tomorrow!

Okay, let's see how many pictures I can post from my phone... first, one of our squash trellises with a border of zinnias in front.

A close up of the squash... this is either Turk's Turban or Long Island Cheese. I'm leaning towards Turban, but not sure yet.

Sungold tomatoes... these guys are an avalanche when they get going!

And a green Italian Heirloom tomato, not ripening yet but I can already taste it! Nothing like a fresh garden tomato, am I right? (Hand included for scale)

Our baby cucumbers.

Alyssa, your garden is beautiful and I love your A-frame trellis! The Turban looks interesting, indeed - will need to look that one up. I absolutely love squash and am always looking for cool new varieties! Your tomatoes are looking good - I have at least another 2-3 weeks before my maters break color, but then I should begin the avalanche of tomatoes for 6 weeks or so. I got 400 pounds from 27 plants last season! I hope to get similar numbers this year!

ehsan, my squash are late, too - not from snow, but birds! They LOVE newly emerged squash seedlings! If we continue to get good weather, we should all have really good harvests this season if if everything's a bit behind!

Thanks, nbm! The trellis is custom built by yours truly :) we have another one, also covered with squash, that is in a raised bed. This is our first year growing the Turban squash - we've had butternuts for a few years and are branching out this season. If you want a real showstopper squash you might try Pennsylvania Dutch Crookneck: imagine a butternut with a longer, curved neck on it. The biggest one from our garden weighed in at 20 pounds! The flesh is a bit more watery than butternut, but similar in flavor.