Garden Update and Harvesting Results

My community garden plots are changing weekly. With the warmer weather my spring crops are coming to an end.  I am not having luck this year with my broccoli. I planted three varieties this year, Arcadia, Calabrese and Sun King.  The Calabrese variety bolted two weeks ago, so I guess this variety can't tolerate the heat. The Sun King hybrid was starting to form small heads and before I could harvest them they also bolted.  I am left with 6 Arcadia plants and only one has formed a small head.  I am hoping they will work out for me, if not I will try again in the fall. 

Most of my lettuce is harvested, because they were all starting to bolt with the heat and humidity we have been having. I really enjoyed the varieties I grew this spring. They were Little Gem, Tom Thumb, Yugoslavian Red Bibb and Red Romaine. I love growing lettuce varieties that are red, they add color to the garden in early spring. I will be planting more lettuce in August for fall.

My Snow Peas did not do well this year. The vines only grew half the height they usually do and I hardly had any peas to harvest before the heat killed the plants. I am going to try a fall crop. I don't know how they will do in my growing zone in fall, but I figure why not try. Has anyone in zone 6b ever tried growing fall peas?

Again I had no luck with growing spring cauliflower. I am going to give it a try in the fall. My plants formed small heads and then all of them bolted. Every year I fail and every year I try again! I am determined to successfully grow it one of these years.

I was able to harvest four heads of "Bilko" Napa cabbage. The variety called "Soloist" did not do well with the heat and bolted a few weeks ago.  My other cabbage plants are starting to form heads. I have "Deadon" and "Savoy" cabbage growing.

I was able to harvest my first cucumbers Tuesday night. I bought a pot of Suhyo Long Japanese cucumbers and they are vining nicely up my trellis. I did find out that there were two different varieties in the pot. I am getting the traditional Suhyo Long cucumbers, but one of the vines is producing small smoothed skinned cucumbers. I had one in my salad last night for supper and it was good.

All my warm weather crops are growing nicely. My tomato plants are growing crazy and they are loaded with tomatoes. I hope they stay healthy and the fungi/bacteria stay away. I know that is wishful thinking, because every year my plants get hit by something. I am going to start spraying my plants with an organic fungicide to hopefully prevent or slow down the damage. All my summer squash and winter squash plants are doing good so far. The peppers and eggplant are growing nicely. This year I am staying on top of the flee beetles on my eggplants and they definitely look healthier than previous years. My pole beans are really starting to climb the teepee trellis. I am giving lima beans a try this year, I am growing two bush varieties. I am hoping that my purple artichoke that survived the winter will produce artichokes this year. The plant is very healthy and is getting pretty big.

It will soon be time to harvest the garlic and onions. I am growing elephant and regular garlic this year. My onions are really getting large, which is exciting because I have never grown large onions they are always medium sized onions.

Here is a video I took of one of my garden plots in the middle of June. I hope you enjoy it and thanks for stopping by!

http://vimeo.com/97996296