Nothing says summer like fresh veggies from the garden…especially the vine-ripe tomatoes!  We’re just beginning to enjoy the first few of those.  It’s mid-June, and things in the garden are looking quite a bit different than they did just a few short months ago in March.  Come take a look!

Tomatoes

Below is the picture I posted in March of the six tomato transplants I put in.

 

I planted them about 4 feet apart, and it looked like they had way too much space between them at the time.  I never cease to be amazed at the amount of growth that takes place with these beauties.  The next picture shows exactly what I’m talking about.  It was taken just a few days ago from the same angle as the one above.

 

Those cute little tender things turned into giants!

And here’s a closer look at one of the six plants.

 

They are LOADED!  Can’t wait for some of the good-sized slicing tomatoes!

 

So far we’ve only had a few that have been ripe enough to pick.  It’s so nice getting them from the garden rather than having to get store-bought ones, and the flavor doesn’t even compare!

 

Peppers

Now here are the pepper transplants back in March:

 

And here’s the updated photo:

 

I lost one jalapeno plant, because I didn’t get the cage supports around them soon enough, and the wind got strong enough a few days that it was able to uproot it.  The others were bent down pretty badly before I got the cages around them, but they seem to be doing well in spite of that.

 

The bell peppers are putting on nicely.

 

And the poblanos are doing right well, too!  This is the first year I’ve ever grown poblanos.

 

These are some tomatillos, bell peppers, and jalapenos that I picked yesterday.  This is also the first time I’ve ever grown tomatillos.

 

Cucumbers

 

These three trellises are supporting the pickling cucumbers.  I didn’t even walk out to the garden for two weeks after Mom died.  And during that time we had some good rains.  You can see how out of hand the weeds got!  I’ve weeded around the two trellises on the right, but you can see how bad the weeds were by looking at the far left trellis.  The weeds grew right up to the base of the trellis.  I need to get that last one weeded.

 

Here come the cucumbers!  I’ll be starting to harvest some soon.

 

And here’s the dill that will help me turn those cukes into yummy dill pickles.  I’m real pleased with how well it’s doing.  I’d also like to try making some bread and butter pickles this year.  ‘Course you can see those pesky weeds in the left foreground that need to skedaddle.

 

Black Diamond Watermelon & Green Beans

 

Seems like the watermelon was further along than this at the same time last year.  However, I took this picture a few days ago, and it’s spread quite a bit in just the short amount of time since then.  It’s put on flowers, too!

 

Here’s a shot of the watermelon from further away.  See how it’s surrounded by evil weeds?  As the watermelon spreads out, I’ve been weeding more and more around it so it doesn’t attach itself to those nasty invaders.  I also need to mulch in order to keep the weeds at bay.  Those are the green beans in the foreground.

 

This is the first mess of green beans that I picked on Sunday.  I got a second picking a bit larger than this one yesterday.  Green beans fresh-picked from the garden taste so much better than even the fresh ones at the produce department in the grocery store.  Yum!

 

Herbs

 

Last Friday I picked this basil from the garden and used it to make basil pesto, so I could fix this:

 

Pasta with basil pesto is delish!

 

On the way back up to the house after working in the garden the other day, I was so glad to see this happy new growth at the base of my rose bush!  I know it’s not an herb, but I just had to throw that one in there.

 

Lastly, the herb garden.  My sage is going CaRazy!  I need to plant some Thai basil again, because my first seeding didn’t take.  I don’t think I watered it enough in the early stages.  But right now what I really need are some ideas for ways to use fresh sage!  Anybody?

 

And if you are raising vegetables this year, I’d love to hear about how yours are doing?  What have you planted?  How do you use your harvest?  Are you experimenting with anything for the first time this year?  It’s always fun to try new things at least once.