Garden Update July 30.

After some long-awaited rain (to the tune of 6+ inches in 2 days!) the veggie garden, lawn and perennial beds are rejuvenated. This July was the hottest on record as well as the 2nd wettest on record. The strange thing about that is the rain came at the end of the month, not all spread out and convenient like us gardeners would prefer.  But my rain barrels are full once again, so no more hose watering for a few days.

Brad and I have been busy ripping things apart in our front & side yards. They have been pretty darn neglected for years. The side yard faces north, is blocked visually from the street by the neighbor's overgrown pine tree  and since the neighbors have no windows facing our north side we've NEVER done anything to landscape it. Well, I guess I tried a little-I stuck some vinca back there and half-heartedly planted some orange ditch lilies and iris. Then we dumped a ton of wood chips and washed our hands of it. It was icky.

Here's a few "after" photos. I took no "before" shots. Just imagine any overgrown, neglected flower bed and put a 6' sumac tree/weed next to the a/c units. We're talkin' UGLY here, people. Brad cut out the worst areas and then power washed the side of the house. Trust me-this looks 1000 times better than what was there previously.

Here's the far side of the front of our house. Note the  lawn & leaf bags...that isn't even all of them!  I ripped out pretty much everything except for my hosta "Guacamole", the arborvitae ("cedar" if you're Canadian) and some smaller unknown hostas that are doing well. Before you joke about our windmill decor, please keep in mind that Brad is very Dutch. Very very Dutch. So the windmill stays. 

A more close-up view of the front bed. The large rocks will stay (a large Scotch pine was there, we removed that a few years ago. Wrong tree, wrong place.) Not sure what I'll put in it's spot. Any ideas?

Now, the veggie garden!  I've started harvesting a few tomatoes (yay!) and lettuce, but everything else is still green or small or just not ready. The small cherry tomatoes are "Sweet 100" (hybrids, oops! Wanted to stick to heirloom varieties only) and the large tomato is an heirloom variety. 

Here's the jungle!  We've learned a bit about where we'll place things next year. The cantaloupe, left side in the photo, needs trellising. It is very happy where it is, but it's climbing all over and just needs a better location. We also learned that many heirloom tomatoes grow HUGE, much larger than hybrids, and they shade the back fence (cukes & beans) too much. They'll be in a different spot next year, too. 

I'm hoping for a Fall crop of peas. Our Spring peas were eaten by rabbits, or maybe they were dumped by Bryce when I was acclimating them...I just know that we have no peas. I put these in our bottomless deck planters, behind the shed where they will get quite a bit of sun protection until the temps chill out. 

Back at the main veggie garden, you can see that the cukes are starting to climb up the netting on the privacy fence. Lots of blossoms, no fruit has set as of yet. 

Several cantaloupes are beginning to get their "netting." At last count, there were 8 large ones...please don't ripen all at once!

There are also 8 watermelons ripening. I like that the watermelon foliage is more tame than that of the cantaloupe. It's easily kept in bounds and the cut edges of the leaves are pretty.

The cabbages are forming nice sized heads. Won't be long until we're harvesting these! Cabbages are very happy looking veggies, I think. =)

On my  "NOT bush cucumbers", there are 3 cukes growing. These babies are growing before our eyes!

 

Won't be long before we are harvesting more produce than we can eat!

This post linked to Daphne's Dandilions Harvest Monday, Sidewalk Shoes Garden Tuesday, A Southern Daydreamer Outdoor Wednesday. Mrs. Green Thumb Jean, Fishtail Cottage Flora Thursday