Straw Bale Garden Update July 2020

Are you ready for pictures? :) Here comes the July update on our straw bale garden! :) As you can see, the difference since our last update is pretty clear. :) Plants which were just sprouts or (in some cases) seeds are growing merrily up trellises and over the arches. To say that we are excited would be an understatement. We are completely enthralled!

Shelly can be found in the garden every single day, checking on cantaloupe. :) They grew more slowly than the squash, perhaps, but once they got going, look out! There are presently 13 wee cantaloupes growing on the inside left of this arch! You can see her carefully counting each one, sizing them up, and looking to see how many more might show up soon. 

This same arch also boasts cucumbers, spaghetti squash, and even a random yellow pear tomato plant that my little Pie planted. We started yellow pear seeds after realizing that some of our other varieties may fail. As always, when she helps put in seeds, my youngest always ends up surprising us with plants growing in the 'wrong' places. haha That statement is only half true, however. We like to think that any place a plant comes up happens to be the 'right' place. ;) ;) ;)

Another surprise we encountered in the garden this year came in the form of our zucchini. I was having trouble getting my Black Beauty plant to survive. Desperate to have zucchini to share with "the neighbors in the grey house" (who really, REALLY love the stuff) after two bad years in a row, I had Hubs pick up some zucchini plants at the store. Wouldn't you know, these warty looking yellow guys showed up! haha Those are apparently called "yellow crookneck squash". They are a type of vegetable that is something of zucchini or summer squash. I hear that they are tasty. We shall see! :) 

As you can also see in the picture above, we have another summer squash. This one was intentional. Ha! This is our spaghetti squash. We have three really big guys. I am sorry the picture to the right is so dark. I had Shelly put her hands on each end to try to get an idea of how big it is. They are every bit the size a spaghetti squash should be, and have only to ripen. :) These will keep well through the fall, too. :) The squash plants have fallen victim to vine borer bugs. Boo! However, we knew to plan for this. I have retained some seeds. We will be laying in a second crop. They will have plenty of time to grow and 'bear fruit' by season's end. 

The green peppers are both flowering and producing. The peppers we planted in the bales came from the store. They are only about half the size of the plants that came from my very own seeds. :) Those plants are the ones I referred to a month ago in the last update. We had given up on their seeds germinating and dumped the dirt into a planter. Since then, they've grown quite tall! They are just now bringing forth little peppers. As to the smaller plants in the bale, all in a row, every plant there has at least one pepper. :)

Here is a peek at my admittedly small potato plant. Lacking in size though it may be, it still brings me great joy! Again I cite the difficulty I had even finding seed potatoes. The one time I thought I found Yukon Gold seed potatoes and made my purchase, instead of a 'shipped' notification from the vendor, I received a notice of order cancellation and refund. *That* is how hard it was! Thank God one of my store-bought potatoes (for eating) sprouted! :) We cannot wait to see how well it yields later in the year. 

To the left is a picture of a small, happy little watermelon. :) I had seeds for 'Sugar Baby' and 'icebox', so we planted both. It was only recently that I learned that the Sugar Baby variety of watermelon is considered an 'icebox' watermelon because it can fit into the refrigerator. haha So much for having two varieties! Ah, well. We tried! 

You can see that this little guy is tucked into a sling. I saw videos online about using pantyhose or tee-shirts to support heavy produce growing vertically. I thought, "I can do the exact same thing using cotton yarn and crochet!" So I did. Or rather, *we* did! Both Pie and Shelly have been crocheting slings with me! :)

In this next picture we have a cucumber. :) I think I will end on this photo today, actually. There are more things to show, but these updates get so very long! haha I probably should break them into parts more often. These cucumbers are growing very well. We have some growing up the right side of either arch. While not my favorite cukes of all time, I am pleased with the output. :) 

So, anyhow, there we are for today's update. I will show up again later on and we will talk tomatoes. ;) In the meantime, happy gardening to all! Be blessed. <3

Early July Straw Bale Garden Update

Good Morning! :)

Today is Independence Day here in the US, but this post is not about that. It is another garden update! *wide grin* I know, I know... I have become very one-note, haven't I? So what! There are growing goodies to share! Let's get to it!

SBG July 2, 2018

Here is a somewhat panoramic view of our garden at the beginning of this week. :) You can see that the garden has taken over the bales and framework, to the point where you almost can't even see the cattle panel. Yay! *This* stage of gardening is what I live for! If you look in the corner of the bales at the right of the frame (immediately behind my watering cans), you will see that a volunteer wild sunflower plant has sprung up! 

Side note... I call any plants that were not planted by any of us 'volunteer'. This sunflower was the one seed that escaped intact from the copious amounts of seed mix we put in the yard for the local wildlife this winter. It happened to grow in the absolute perfect location, so much so that it looks intentional! haha Next year, I *will* grow some on purpose! I have mysteriously gone from hating sunflowers to absolute mirth when I see them! :D :D Photo credit to my Booh Bear for every picture you see in here. She has become quite adept at taking them!

As you can see, things are growing quite well in the garden. We have too many kinds of tomatoes to keep mentioning over and over. Plus, in this stage of growing, they are all green and hard to tell apart. However, this is a picture of our Sunrise Bumblebee tomatoes. You can clearly see that they'll be striped. <3 

What follows are other pictures of tomatoes that I won't be describing in detail. ;) Like this one!

And these happy little growers right here. :) I love that you can see the a cucumber flower kissing a tomato in the left of the photo!

There are also these...

And these...

Aaaaand these.
You get the idea! ;)

We also have spaghetti squash growing very well, like these. In fact, you can sometimes spot more spaghetti squash in the pictures of other veggies we've taken and shared. 
There is also a squash growing that my Booh Bear keeps swearing up and down is a spaghetti squash. The thing is, it has stripes on it. I have an inkling that it is something else entirely. I have not checked it out in person, but I hope to soon. It doesn't make sense to me that absolutely all of our squash look alike but that one. I am hoping that it is a watermelon, actually.

I have a picture of it sitting by other plants, but I want to get close and solve that mystery before I post about it any further. :)

This is a butternut squash. I have grown these in honor of my beloved dad, God rest his soul. They will not go to waste. My mom (Granna, in these blogs) loves them every bit as much as my dad did. My plants did not thrive last year, yielding only one (much-appreciated but tiny) little squash. It sits on a shelf with pictures of my dad. <3 <3 <3  

There are also zucchini coming on very well. My mom and Booh Bear have already been enjoying them consistently. <3 I may not like this vegetable personally, but I will attempt to grow absolutely anything I can get my hands on! :) We are also going to begin carting some over to the neighbors, per usual. 

After last year's struggle, I happily  report that we are again keeping ourselves in cucumbers. Yay! This is one of my favorite veggies to eat fresh from the garden, though you will rarely catch me buying them from the store. Little Giraffe really loves them, as well. We've had some pest issues, but I am about to try a neem oil/dish soap/water mix. Finger's crossed!

We have very few pumpkin plants this year. I think only two, maybe? They seem to be doing alright. The garden is so big that it is somewhat painful to dig around the rough vines. I am not sure how many pumpkins we have, but there will for sure be at least one! lol

The broccoli are finally starting to develop wee heads. They, the spinach, the watermelon, and the cabbage are all kind of being buried under the massive squash and zucchini plants. That said, I've not had squash actually kill any plants at any point in the past. I just have to get some gloves on and go digging when the temperature finally drops to a tolerable level.

This is the last picture I have right now. My pepper plants are a mix of "Aaawww, maaaannnn!" and "Meh". I know... not great. The plants I started from seedlings are only a few inches tall. They are beautiful but too small to do anything this year. The plants I bought from the farmer's market (one is pictured) are growing orange peppers. The plants are growing in funky shapes and the peppers are small, but they are at least there! :) I find it so odd how I can have great success with a plant seasons in a row, only to have a random bad season. 

So, there you have it. The garden continues to grow. We haven't seen any cantaloupe on those vines yet, but everything else seems to be off and running. Most of it is doing very well. Only a couple of things are not. I neglected my potatoes on accident for a very hot week. Now I am fighting to save the plants. Yikes! Live and learn!

I hope that everyone is having a happy and healthy summer. School will begin before you know it. We are probably going to be starting the new grades ourselves here in another week and a half. In the meantime, Hubs, Granna, Booh Bear, Little Giraffe and I all bid you a Happy Independence Day! 

Quick Edit:
The mystery plant is a second pumpkin! It is very light in color for some reason. We have also found wee little watermelons and cantaloupes! Yaay! <3

<3 Remember to tend those spiritual gardens! <3