Garden Update 7/9/15

It's time for a garden update. I feel like I am way behind what I produced last year at this time, which is a bummer. Every gardener always measures their production against last year. Here's what's working hard and what's not...

View from the pathway.

 Last time my mom was here, she taught me how to trim roses. Until then, I was just letting them die and waiting until the petals fell off on their own. She told me to find a dead rose, then follow the stem backwards until you come to the first cluster of five leaves. Clip right before the cluster of five leaves, leaving that as the new end of that stem. I can't believe the new growth that has come on since she taught me to do that. Yesterday, I went out and pruned away dead roses, and also had plenty to clip some to enjoy in the house. Yes, please.

Red, orange, yellow, and purple blooms ready to go inside.

 My tomatoes are finally, FINALLY ripening. I can't believe it has taken this long. I don't think I'll ever start them from seeds again, or if I do, it will be a lot earlier. I ended up adding some big transplants from Lowe's through the spring because my seedlings were taking forever. The Black Prince variety is producing the most so far. I didn't even plant cherry tomatoes this year, and I've pulled what feels like a thousand volunteer plants that sprouted from last year's fallen tomatoes, yet here I am. Cherry tomato zombie apocalypse is upon us. 

 My Russian pickling cucumbers have been growing like crazy all season, which is great. Jars of pickles are lining my ever-shrinking pantry, even with all of the cukes I've given away. 

Green beans have been kind of a bust. This was my first time planting green beans. What I didn't know is that you need a lot of plants to ever have enough green beans to pick and eat at once. 

Serranos are so easy, they practically take care of themselves.

 My zucchini...sigh. From first glance, they look like they're doing well, but they're not. First they had an aphid problem, which I took care of organically. Now I believe they are suffering from blossom end rot. They start growing, and look great, then one day they start rotting on the plant, before they are big enough to pick. Such a bummer. Wasted space. Sad face.

 My onions are doing well, I have just been picking one as needed, and leave the rest in to keep growing until they get really large. Also, the basil is doing awesome.

Volunteer cherry tomatoes.

 This is my first year growing eggplant. A friend had some extra plants in the spring and she gave them to me, so I decided to give it a go. I love how pretty they are when they grow.

I still have small amounts of kale growing, and behind this trellis is a fig tree with several figs on it. There you have it. I'm off to can some more pickles, or get overtaken by the zombie cherry tomatoes, whichever happens first.