Garden Update: July 2014

We're almost at the end of July! That means we've survived 208 of 365 days. Zach tells me time feels like it passes faster the older we get. So the fact that I feel this year has gone by way too fast means?!!

I was in Singapore the first half of July, so I missed that spectacular phase where baby plants shoot for the sky and turn into full-fledge mature plants. Just for comparison's sake, this was the picture I took before I left (at the end of June):

and here's the picture I took when I got home on July 16th:

Plain amazing! I have to thank Zach for doing such a great job with the garden while I was away. There were times when we spoke where he would ecstatically share with me that the eggplants were flowering, or that the bell pepper plants were loaded with fruits. Other times, his frustration and disappointment would be evident when he told me he had to take off tomatoes that were showing signs of blossom end rot. He said he must have tossed over 60 tomatoes because of it.

a tomato with the dreaded blossom end rot. anyone knows how to treat this condition mid-season?

We have a lot to learn about blossom end rot. If you have tips, please share them! Thankfully though, we still have some healthy tomatoes left.

San Marzano

Bonny tomatoes

Minibel tomatoes. This plant is only a foot tall!

black vernissage tomatoes

We have our 15 tomato plants packed so tightly together this year that it's been hard to monitor for pests. Luckily, the parasitic wasps have been so helpful at seeking out the hornworms we miss.

Our pepper plants feel like they are a little behind this year. I looked back at last year's garden update for July and saw that we were harvesting a lot more peppers by this time of the year. I can't wait for this present batch of peppers to catch up!

bell peppers

Carmen peppers

Chili peppers

Mellow Star peppers

The biggest surprise for this year's garden has to be the eggplants. All 6 plants (tha we started from seeds!) survived the early onslaught of flea beetles, and are now big, beautiful, and bountiful. We have 2 of the Japanese white eggplants:

2 "Astrakom"eggplants:

"Little fingers":

"Violet Prince":

The herbs we have are looking good too, except for the dill.

Our basil plants are looking a little yellow, but they are thriving!

We didn't grow any summer Chinese veggies this year, but we did attempt to grow some molokhia (Egyptian spinach) again. The molokhia we had last year loved the 90-degree weather. The ones this year are growing a tad slower in this mild and unpredictable summer.

Something else that's craving for 90-degree weather? The okra.

I thought I would miss out on much of the berries when I was gone, but we still have strawberries,

raspberries,

and blueberries left to eat!

But fruits and veggies aside, there's also plenty of flowers blooming around the garden this year. There are always plenty of cheerful zinnia blossoms to brighten the mornings,

and calendula to pick. Since I am harvesting the calendula for their petals, we are growing the "Triangular Flashback" (from Johnny's Seeds) this year:

We also have a dwarf teddy bear sunflower that's insanely adorable:

and another one on its way!

Finally, we sowed a round of beets in anticipation of fall.

I'm eager to see what this garden does in August!