The Garden in July

At long last, a garden update. But first, a few disclaimers:

1. I've not been a good gardener this year. I added loads of compost to the soil, but it came with some weed seeds. The weeds have been thrilled with my garden prep. I haven't kept up on them nearly as well as I should.

2. It's been incredibly dry and generally hot here. I've watered the garden a few times, but not as much as it might like.

3. Because my indoor seed starts were a disaster, because I was creating four 4x50' beds by hand, and because we were also birthin' goats, starting a batch of chicks, and waiting on our pole barn all around planting time, I cut some corners on a few crops. I generally know where I went wrong, but I figured a lame attempt was better than none.

So now, on with an early Summer status report...

Chickens, eagerly awaiting the contents of the weed bucket...

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Row #1

Corn - Ohio Blue Clarage (semi-dent)
Germination: Good
Growth: Very Good
Issues: None

Peas - Mammoth Melting Sugar
Germination: Good
Growth: Fair
Issues: Planted them too late.

Watermelon - Orangeglo
Germination: 1 of 2
Growth: Fair
Issues: Slow growth so far.

Wheat - Praire Gold
Germination: Poor
Growth: Poor
Issues: Wheat emerged looking like grass. The compost and/or soil had too much grass seed in it. It was hard to tell what to weed. The germination rate was not good at all. We'll make some adjustments and give it another try. This year, I ended up just mowing it down, as it ended up 95% weeds.

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Row #2

Amaranth - Opopeo
Germination: Fair
Growth: Very Good
Issues: Low germination

Tomates - Various heirloom varieties
Germination: N/A
Growth: Very Good to Excellent
Issues: None. All are thriving.

Peppers - Various heirloom varieties
Germination: N/A
Growth: Fair to Poor
Issues: Very slow growth. They range from three inches to six inches - not much bigger than they started. But then I never do well with peppers. Any suggestions out there?

Eggplant
Germination: N/A
Growth: Fair
Issues: Slow growing, a good bit of bug damage

Beans - Kentucky Wonder
Germination: Very good
Growth: Good
Issues: None

Potato - King Harry
Germination: Very Good
Growth: Very Good
Issues: None

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Row #3

Corn - Ladyfinger (popcorn)
Germination: Fair
Growth: Fair
Issues: Looks pretty weak compared to the Blue Clarage a couple rows away

Gourd - Birdhouse gourd
Germination: 2/2
Growth: Good
Issues: None

Lettuce - 2 kinds, variety unknown
Germination: Not applicable (purchased seedlings)
Growth: Fair
Issues: Bolted by June 1 due to hot weather

Brussels Sprouts - variety unknown
Germination: Not applicable (purchased seedlings)
Growth: Good
Issues: None

Cauliflower
Germination: Not applicable (purchased seedlings)
Growth: Fair
Issues: None

Cabbage
Germination: Not applicable (purchased seedlings)
Growth: Good
Issues: None

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Row #4

Beans - Purple pod (bush)
Germination: Fair
Growth: Very good
Issues: None

Beans - Gator Green (bush)
Germination: Excellent
Growth: Excellent
Issues: Some insect damage

Cowpeas - Purple Hull Pinkeye
Germination: Poor
Growth: Good
Issues: Low germination

Peas - Sugar Snap
Germination: Fair
Growth: Fair
Issues: None

Beans - Black
Germination: Excellent
Growth: Excellent
Issues: None. Best performing beans in the garden this year

Beans - Fava
Germination: Fair
Growth: Good
Issues: Low germination. Don't seem to be handling drought conditions as well as the other beans. I hear their tasty, but I also hear they're a pain to prepare. And I'm seeing they're finicky in the garden. Maybe that's why I've never even had them...

Cucumber - Lemon
Germination: 1 of 2
Growth: Good
Issues: None

Cucumber - Parisian Pickling
Germination: 1 of 2
Growth: Very good
Issues: None

Cucumber - Diva
Germination: 1 of 2
Growth: Fair
Issues: Very slow-growing so far. They were old seeds, which I know can affect germination, but I don't know if that affects vigor.

Summer squash - Yellow
Germination: 1 of 4
Growth: Excellent
Issues: None

Summer squash - Spaghetti
Germination: 2 of 4
Growth: Excellent
Issues: None

Winter squash - Black Futsu
Germination: 2 of 4
Growth: Good
Issues: None

Winter squash - Delicata
Germination: 2 of 4
Growth: Good
Issues: None

Winter squash - White Scallop
Germination: 1 of 4
Growth: Fair
Issues: None

Melon - Sakata's Sweet (Asian)
Germination: 1 of 2
Growth: Poor
Issues: Very slow growth.

Melon - Minnesota Midget
Germination: 0 of 2
Growth: None
Issues: No seeds germinated

Onion - Flat of Italy
Germination: None
Growth: None
Issues: Should have been started indoors, early. I just planted some outdoors at the last frost date, on the off chance they'd make it. No dice.

Potato - Island Sunshine
Germination: Very good
Growth: Very good
Issues: None

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Not included in the big garden are the strawberries (not particularly productive), the herb garden (doing well) and the asparagus patch (still getting established). And of course lots of fruit trees, berry bushes and so on, but they're not ready to produce yet.

So that's it for now. We're behind the farm markets on production. We've only had a couple tomatoes, a little summer squash, and a couple meals' worth of snap beans. But it's coming... I'm hoping to try some fall crops before long here too. In the meantime, we're getting lots of fabulous stuff from our new favorite market.