Straw Bale Garden Update June 8th, 2024

Our garden this year is being grown up the sides of an arch tunnel extending from my back patio out toward the treeline. We have five bales each along the inside of the arch, four on the outer left side, and two on the outer right. There is also a garden container against the house full of wee Little Birdy Yellow Canary tomato plants and some fennel, a hill where Little Pie is growing pumpkins (Jack-O'-Lanters), and  small buckets that are growing Yukon Gold (new) potatoes. I say 'new' because we tend to harvest them little and use them in soups. We have the usual chives and strawberries, as well. 

 

Little Giraffe's Jack O' Lanterns

Hubs went through the garden today with me and we adjusted the names of tomato plants so I can *finally* make my list for the year. We have been updating it all along since it was planted last month. Unfortunately, critters (I believe raccoons that my neighbor is currently FEEDING, of all things) have been decimating plant after plant. We have already replaced something like ten plants and I still have some more naked spots of which I was unaware. :( I should have checked them personally this morning.

So, instead of being the conclusive list for the season, I present to you what we are growing right this minute: 

Outside Left Bales 

1) White Wonder, Jasper, Tatume Squash 

2) Mint Julep, Dr. Carolyn, Weaver's Black Brandywine 

3) Queen of the Night, Pink Brandywine, Sun Gold 

4) Amethyst, Golden Fang, Royal Golden Watermelon, My's Mystery (so named any time we've lost a label or it has faded in the sun) 

Inside Left Bales 

1) Wapsipinicon Peach, Royal Golden Melon, Jasper 

2)Fuzzy Blue Balls, Wild Boar Pork Chop, My's Mystery 

3) Sun Peach, Moonbeam, Chocolate Cherry 

4)Sun Dipper, Pink Girl, White Beauty 

5)My's Mystery, Pink Siberian Tiger, *empty*

Inside Right Bales

1) Lemon Squash, Phil's Two, Yellow Brandywine

2) Goat's Bag, Golden Fang, Banana Leg

3) Beefmaster, Beefsteak *or* Mark Twain (lol), Striped German 

4) Dino Eggs (entire bale)

5) Brandywine Pink, Hillbilly Potato Leaf, Brandywine Cherry

Outside Right Bales

1) Freckled Child, Dino Egg, Watermelon

2) Alice's Dream, Dirty Little Chicken, Chocolate Cherry

If you're counting, that is thirty-six distinct varieties of tomatoes. That is down by fourteen from our record-breaking year of fifty varieties last year, but it *is* past the thirty mark I kept trying to hit since 2017. I had fallen short of that by two or three for several years in a row, so I'm chuffed to have hit thirty for the second time. 

That is if the little rat-coons don't keep decimating my plants one by one...

Straw Bale Garden Update - June 2023

 

A panoramic view from the patio

Here we are on the final day of June, and I'm finally coming in with a garden update. :) To the right, you can see most of the garden, although there are five more bales to the left of the side (left) arch that continue all the way back up to the very edge of our house. The two nearest the house are loaded down with cucumber plants that are finally starting to climb on the fence behind their bales. There are also two more bales laden down with Scarlet Runner beans and random tomato plants that we ran out of places to tuck in elsewhere. The final bale has herbs and micro tomato plants. 

Pansies and Tomatoes

I also still have a tray of tomato starts that I can't bear to sell and can't find room to plant. What is a person to do? Why, buy extra dirt and fill more pots, of course! Will they need larger containers? Yes. Do I have them? No. Am I going to try to grow them in smaller containers anyway? You betcha. That is, unless I am able to find (or get creative and make) other accommodations for them. 

You can see that I have also tucked tomatoes in with my pansies. I get that this wasn't a great idea, but again, I didn't want to waste my small tomato plants. I have two of the Little Birdy series growing, that I know of. I don't believe that I had any Rosey Finch seeds left from last year. 

Galdiolus

Meanwhile, flowers are growing and blooming all over the yard. I have a ton of Cannas that are putting out their leaves in such a lovely fashion. I bought red Canna bulbs from someone in town this spring. I wanted green plants because that is the kind of Canna my dad gave to me as a gift years ago. Unfortunately, those bulbs never came back up the following year. When I bought these red Cannas, it was as close as I could get to the green. Imagine my utter delight when one set of bulbs put out green shoots! Now we refer to that as the "Papa Canna". It is a delight to find new ways to remember him out in the garden, and in the world around us. 

Okay, so let's get right down to it, shall we? I have a (hastily written) messy list of the tomatoes that are sitting out in my garden right now. I've always wanted to hit a solid 30 (or more) varieties. So far, the closest I've come is 27. Let's get this thing typed out and counted!

2023 Tomato Variety List

1. Climbing Triple Crop  

2. Pink Bumblebee

3. Sunchocula
4. Tumbling Tom
5. Sunpeach
6. Dr. Carolyn
7. Juliet
8. Spoon (I ended up with several plants, grown from seed and also purchased)
9. Banana Leg
10. Wild Boar
11. Mint Julip
12. Chocolate Pear
13. Pink Princess
14. Bumblebee Mix (so this could be sunrise, pink, or purple)
15. Yellow Bell
16. Pink Girl
17. Striped German
18. El Dorado
19. Zapotec
20. Dr. Whyche's
21. Midnight Snack
22. White Beauty
23. Mortgage Lifter Yellow
24. Tropical Sunset
25. Goliath Sunny
26. Mark Twain
27. Brandywine Yellow
28. Brandywine Suddoth
29. Brandywine Black
30. Brandywine Pink
31. Brandywine Cherry
32. Purple Boy
33. Beefmaster
34. Queen of the Night
35. Marglobe
36. Martino's Roma
37. Chef's Choice Pink
38. Watermelon Beefsteak
39. Kellogg's Breakfast
40. Yellow Beefsteak
41. Golden Fang
42. Horizon
43. Indigo Pear Drops
44. Nebraska Wedding
45. San Marzano
46. Rio Grande
47. Stump of the World
48. Little Birdy Yellow Canary
49. Little Birdy Red Robin
50. Chocolate Pear

Oh. My. Goodness!! I have more than met my goal! I have exceeded it - by a lot! EEEEEEKKK!!! Excuse my utter joy, here. I cannot believe this! Hallelujah! I panic-bought a TON of plants this year, after mine struggled so hard to make it. Then I also panic-planted another round of seeds from plants I saved from past years. Girl, WE DID IT!! HAHAHA I couldn't be happier to know that I have not just hit thirty, but exceeded it! This is, indeed, my biggest garden year EVER!! WAHOO!!! TOMATOES, BABY!!!

Oh, my stars! I am one happy gardener! In addition to the many tomatoes, we have many other things growing. Other Veggies (etc): Jack-O-Lantern pumpkins, Yellow Crookneck squash, Delicata squash, Spaghetti Squash, maybe Black Beauty zucchini, Marketmore cucumber, Tendergreen cucumbers, Lemon cucumbers, Scarlet Runner beans, Ground Cherries, Radishes, California Wonder Bell Peppers, Fire and Ice Peppers, Lettuce (mixed), Carrots, Lavender, Hale's Best Jumbo Cantaloupe, Yellow Potatoes (but no sign of growth yet), and Lemon Mint. 

Flowers: Gray Mammoth Sunflowers, American Giant Hybrid Sunflowers, Dwarf Teddy Bear Sunflowers, Calliope, Baby's Breath, Triteleia, Roses (pink, large pink, white tea roses, red, yellow/pink tea roses), Butterfly and Bird wildflower mix, Four O'Clock, Pansies, Cannas, Lilacs (only one reblooming)

Tomato List: Seed Sewing - Straw Bale Garden 2023

 

And we're off! The 2023 garden season is officially underway. I purchased my seeds at the beginning of February but managed to neglect them until mid-March. Oops! We have started tomatoes and peppers, so far. I thought I had seeds for Fire & Ice, Ancho, and Bell peppers. It turns out that I only had Fire & Ice. It is also too early to plant sunflowers, but my little Koala wanted to see what they would do if she started them in a cup, so I gave her four American Giant Hybrid seeds. :) Otherwise, here is the list of tomato seeds that we are going to try this year:

Paste
San Marzano
Golden Fang
Banana Legs

Cherry/Pear
Little Birdy Yellow Canary
Wapsipinicon Peach
Chocolate Pear
Pink Princess Cherry
Blueberries
Black Strawberry
Bumblebee Mix (Sunrise, Pink, Purple)
Litchi
Aunt Molly's Ground Cherry

Tiny
Spoon

Slicing Tomatoes

Pork Chop OG (from the Barred Boar family)
Yellow Brandywine
Dr. Wyche's Yellow
Nebraska Wedding
Kellogg's Breakfast
Orange Accordion
Pink Brandywine
The stump of the World
Chef's Choice Pink
Hillbilly Potato Leaf (this callback to my childhood is an annual 'must' in my garden)
Striped German
Solar Flare
Watermelon Beefsteak
Climbing Triple-L-Crop

End of Season Summary =)

Here is the post-season wrap-up of the assorted tomatoes that graced our garden this year. I have separated out the mid-to-large-sized tomatoes from the cherry and pear varieties. We enjoyed twenty-four varieties in total.  

Not quite ripe Pork Chop Tomato

My personal favorites were the Pork Chop tomatoes with their sweet-but-tangy flavor and dazzling yellow-on-yellow striped skin. Those beauties made my heart flip every time I got to inspect them. <3 They are part of the 'wild barred boar' family and are not to be missed!

Over-ripe Pork Chop Tomato

When we stripped out the garden over a two-week period, we brought in a lot of green tomatoes. We've been able to identify and enjoy them as they ripen. Indeed, tearing out the garden was also an education on what was hiding in big clusters of overgrown plants. My own lack of actively tending the garden this year worked against me all summer. In the end, tearing out plants and harvesting what was left was rather like a gardener's Christmas. ;) 

Overall I am pretty pleased with the range of sizes we had. Even so, I am almost desperate for my ground cherries and spoon tomato plants to cooperate with me next year and broaden our experience even further. :)  

Red/orange/yellow slices ready for BLT's

TOMATOES

Kellogg's Breakfast 
Striped German
Pink Brandywine
Yellow Brandywine 
Dr. Wyche's Yellow
Climbing Trip-L Crop
Hillbilly Potato Leaf
Porkchop
Stump of the World
Chef's Choice Pink
Solar Flare
Nebraska Wedding
Golden Fang
Banana Legs
Dino Eggs

Cherry/Pear Varieties
Midnight Snack
Garnet
Gardner's Sweetheart
Flamingo Burst
Sunrise Bumblebee 
Little Birdy Rosey Finch
Little Birdy Yellow Canary
Siam
Indigo Pear

Seven of the nine types of these are pictured on a plate here. I did not have a LB Yellow Canary to show off, nor a Siam at the moment. We managed to save both Little Birdy plants, which are now growing indoors in one-gallon pots.

Straw Bale Garden Update - June 2022

    Straw Bale Garden (SBG) update time has *finally* arrived. I know that I've run quite behind this year. I haven't posted anything before this besides a list of seeds. Ha! That said, I have had an increasingly busy springtime. My kiddos are rapidly growing up before my eyes. With that comes balancing jobs (three out of four of us and just the one car) and more outings than ever. My Giraffe and Koala are growing faster than any plant on the property. :) Fortunately, I've gotten some really cute pictures of them through the spring, too! ;) ;) ;) 

    I have added some photos to this blog. Please know that they range from a month ago to the present. This past week has been HOT and the garden is suffering for it. 

    Most of the new plants are still seedlings we literally just planted this morning into vacancies left by other plants that did not survive. Even so, we have worked very hard and are praying to eventually have a good bounty to share. Today and tomorrow are in the eighty-degree range and then it is back to the nineties for the foreseeable future. Yikes!

    I twenty-five bales and some pots. Items marked with * are all seedlings that were set out just this morning. Growing all around the yard are: 

TOMATOES

Kellogg's Breakfast 
Purple Bumblebee  *
Sunrise Bumblebee *
Pink Bumblebee  *
Ground Cherries *
Indigo Pear *
Striped German
Large Barred Boar *
Black Strawberry *
Pink Brandywine
Yellow Brandywine 
Blueberries Tomato *
Climbing Trip-L Crop
Spoon Tomatoes *
Nebraska Wedding
Chef's Choice Pink
Garnet
Gardner's Sweetheart
Flamingo Burst
Solar Flare
Dino Eggs
Hillbilly Potato Leaf
Porkchop
Banana Legs
Stump of the World
Dr. Wyche's Yellow
Little Birdy Rosey Finch
Little Birdy Yellow Canary
Siam

We *may* have a Pink Syberian tiger out there, or another of the plants we set out but thought died. Somehow or another, the tags that were with them were blown away or carried off in the night, so there are several of what we like to call "My's Mystery" tomatoes. Once they bear fruit, I will have a better idea of just who they are. I am really hoping against hope that my Orange Accordion tomatoes will show up in there somewhere. I was quite excited to try them this year. I am almost positive that my Spoon tomatoes and my Ground Cherries aren't going to make it. I've never in my life seen such wee little/fragile tomato seedlings. It makes sense that they are tiny. Next year, I will start earlier and pamper the life into them.

VEGGIES

Marketmore Cucumber
Tendergreen Burpless Cucumber
Northeastern Pole Beans
Snap Peas
Poblano Peppers
Green Bell Peppers
California Bell Peppers
Ancho Peppers
Broccoli 
Purple Peacock Broccoli 
Celery (just a baby!)
Buttercrunch Lettuce
Arugula
Strawberry Spinach

We still have to sow carrots, radishes, turnips, and a few other things. Depending on how the weather goes, that may happen this week or not. 

HERBS

Cilantro                   
Sage

Curly Leaf Parsley                   

Italian Parsley                          

Greek Oregano

Chives

Thyme

There are some herbs that I haven't been successful with. These include Chamomile, Lemon Mint, Anise, and Summer Savory. I believe I went wrong by trying to start those in regular seed starting pods, rather than sowing them directly into dirt or a bale under some dirt.

FRUIT

Strawberries

Grapes

Tigger Melon

Yamato Cream Watermelon (these will be yellow inside!)

Crimson Sweet Watermelon

Our Hale's Best Jumbo cantaloupe have all died or been eaten. Like I said, my garden has struggled this year. Today is the third time we've gone out with a fresh batch of seedlings to plug in holes. It has been really frustrating for me, but we keep pushing on. 

FLOWERS

Black Cotton
Chinese Hibiscus
Capt Marguerite
Bolivian Begonia
Garden Petunias - in several colors
Wild Pansy - several colors
Roses - several colors
Morning Glory
Sunflower 

Note: Koala's sunflowers keep getting chopped down by the lawn guy. This may take forever to actually get one all the way up. I also have my lilacs, which are done flowering for the year, and the ever-present Honeysuckle that sneaks in randomly wherever it wishes. 

SQUASH

Waltham Butternut
Black Beauty Zucchini
"Surprise" squash whose tag we lost and I planted nearby the house *facepalm*

My squash was killed and/or died *so* fast. I had Yellow Crookneck, Butternut, Butterscotch, Spaghetti Squash, and Delicata loaded up in my arches. They simply didn't make it. I will try again, but no promises. 

My garden still *looks* rather empty, as many spaces are filled with the tiniest of seedlings. It is also visibly burned from a long week in the sun. Sarting Monday, there is no end of scorching temperatures in the extended forecast. 

I am often praying that every plant will have a good year, regardless. I hate to end on scorched garden pics, but it does bring us right up to the present, so there you have it. <3

Seeds 2022

I am at it again, pouring through my seeds for the year. I am going to start a list here on the blog so I can come back and look at it when I lose the paper copy. =)

Not all of my seeds have arrived yet. The minute after the second order of seeds shipped in MA, the East Coast was hit upside the head with winter storms. I know it is going to be a minute before those seeds find their way here to the Middle. Even so, I am going to include them in the list anyway. :) 

TOMATOES

Dr. Wyche's Yellow
Litchi Tomatoes
Watermelon Beefsteak
Spoon Tomato
Black Strawberry
Orange Accordian
Cherry
Pink Siberian Tiger
My's Mystery
Pink Brandywine
Yellow Brandywine
Wapsipinicon Peach
Sunrise Bumblebee
Pink Bumblebee
Purple Bumblebee
Hillbilly Potato Leaf
Beefsteak
Indigo Pear
Golden Fang
Nebraska Wedding
Yellow-Orange Mystery
Rio Grande
Roma
Chef's Choice Pink
Kellogg's Breakfast
Pink Princess
Little Birdy Rosey Finch
Little Birdy Yellow Canary
German Stripe
Large Barred Boar
Pork Chop 
Blueberries Tomato
Solar Flare

BEANS

Northeaster Pole Beans
Cascadia Snap Peas

HERBS

Parsley (curly)
Dill*
Catnip
Strawberry Spinach
Astro Arugula

SQUASH

Spaghetti
Golden Crookneck 
Delicata
Black Beauty Zucchini
Butternut
Butterscotch

VEGGIES

Watermelon Raddish
Allure Corn
Green Bell Pepper
California Wonder Bell Pepper
Tendersweet Carrots
Tendergreen Cucumbers
Marketmore Cucumbers
Golden Acre Cabbage (Heirloom)
Buttercrunch Lettuce
Wild Garden Lettuce Mix
Sparkling White-Tipped Raddish
Purple Dragon Carrots*
Detroit Dark Red Beets
Culinary Blend Carrots
Tango Celery
Touchstone Gold Beet
Purple Peacock Broccoli
Aunt Molly's Ground Cherries

FRUIT/MELONS

Tigger Melon
Yamato Cream Watermelon
Cantaloupe
Ice Box Watermelon*
Crimson Sweet Watermelon

FLOWERS

Lilacs
Roses (3 kinds)
Butterfly Bush (hybrid mix)
Poppy Rainbow Mix (CA)
Butterfly Mix
American Giant Hybrid Sunflower

I also really hope to grow some potatoes again this year. I grew five small buckets of them last year, and hubs smacked them all right up in soups every time they came up. It is an absolute delight to feed my husband and children. I also really enjoy sharing the fruits of my labor with friends and family. :) I can't wait! :) 

Straw Bale Garden 2021 - May Update

Are you ready? Here is the rundown of where we are with our garden, at the moment. I will start with types of tomatoes that are presently growing in the bales. 

Small Varieties

Yellow Pear

Indigo Pear Drops OG

Sunrise Bumblebee

Pink Bumblebee

Pink Princess Cherry

Honeydrop Cherry

(Regular old red cherry plant didn't make it)

Mid-Sized to 'Large-ish'

Wapsipinicon Peach Hybrid

Roma

Rio Grande

Banana Legs

Black Beauty

Fantome de Laos

Nebraska Wedding

Golden Fang

Box Car Willie

Yellow/Orange Hybrid (I'm not sure what mixed to make this treat, but I propagate it every year.)

The Big Boys

Hillbill Potato Leaf

Orange Orangutan

Pink Siberian Tiger

Kellogg's Breakfast

Pineapple Heirloom

Chef's Choice Pink

Striped German

Yellow Brandywine 

*Pink Brandywine plants didn't make it - reseeded these today*

*Beefsteak plants also didn't make it - reseeded today*

     

That is twenty-four specific varieties of tomatoes if you're counting. We shall see if my Pink Brandywine and Beefsteak tomatoes seeds germinate and have time to grow successfully.

As you can tell from this picture, the plants I started incredibly late are very small. I won't waste time being embarrassed about this. I've had a rough year all around. I am thrilled these guys are in their places and growing. 

By comparison, the tomato plants I purchased from my favorite tomato guy at our local farmer's market are much larger. In fact, some of them are beginning to flower. Given the cold weather that we all faced for an extended period this spring, that is impressive. I am very pleased. 

I placed tomatoes in our two arches this year, in hopes that they will hang lush and green all season long. Last year, I had squash in the arches. When the expectedly annoying squash bugs took out all but one or two plants, my arches sat there woefully half empty. I would be delighted if the arches were so full of tomato plants that we had different color fruits hanging all around us. 

My potatoes are doing a lovely job growing in buckets around the yard. I planted "yellow potatoes" that were purchased originally as food from the grocery store. I put more effort into obtaining the Yukon Gold seed potatoes that I have coveted for years. Wouldn't you know, those did not provide half as wonderful eyes as the regular yellow potatoes. 

No matter, I adore the yellow variety or I wouldn't have bought them. Someday, I hope to have a customized planter which provides a unique potato-growing experience. We shall see. 

I have also purchased a couple of green pepper plants from the local farmer's market. Some plants (like tomatoes) can be popped into the ground (or bales) late and prayed over. Green peppers have not turned out to be that plant, in my experience. They take longer to grow; long enough that I would prefer to pick some well-established plants if I boff up the season as I did this year. These two will do quite nicely. 

Strawberries continue to smile up at us from the corner. With the chicken wire in place, we may *possibly* have a chance of eating some this year. Local bunnies have long stolen these tasty morsels before we ever had a chance to try to harvest them. 

Additionally, I have just learned how to propagate strawberries. I will probably try my hand at making sure we have more in the ground for next springtime. I know the kids would really love that.

My lilacs survived the harsh winter blast that rolled through earlier this spring. Pictured here is the plant out in front of my house. It is positively laden with blooms. These are my all-time favorite flower. I have dearly enjoyed their scent wafting around and through my home.

The roses, too, have really taken off. I have three plants which produce a variety of shades ranging from magenta to a velvety burgundy.

I also have the wee white roses my parents gave to me. The first bud opened on my dad's birthday yesterday. He's been gone four years and two months. I sure do love and miss that big guy!

Honesuckle that had kissed the back of our neighbor's property last year has settled in all around us. It lines the trees at the back of our lot. It has sprung up alongside the bushes out front. I read that white honeysuckle can be considered invasive in some areas. I see why. That said, it has the most pleasant fragrance. 

That is enough of the pretties, I suppose. In my last blog I promised to finally lay in more seeds for this year's garden. Also, hubs bought me two more bales of straw this weekend. They give me the space to drop in those heavy zucchini and squash plants. 

In keeping with my tremendously 'run behind' garden season, I have only just laid in those seeds today. All of the fingers around here are crossed and prayers are flying that each one germinates.

Planted Today: Buttercrunch Lettuce, White-Tipped Radish, Detroit Dark Red Beets, Beefsteak Tomatoes, Pink Brandywine tomatoes, Alaska Peas, Sugar Daddy Peas, Hale's Best Jumbo Cantaloupe, Sugar Baby Ice Box Watermelon, Cilantro, Basil, Crookneck Squash, Black Beauty Zucchini, Waltham Butternut Squash, Spaghetti Squash, and Delicata Squash. I will try to remember to either soak or seed some green beans and more flowers tomorrow. We have a Hummingbird and Butterfly Mix that I would like to try. 

Ah! I almost forgot to mention my lovely garden fresh chives. They continue to thrive in their pot. Pictured here is a delicate chive flower head. It is composed of many, many small flowers. 

The chives share a pot with my little Pie's Golden Acre Cabbage. She is quite pleased with herself at how her small cabbage plants are growing. I sincerely enjoy watching my childrens' merriment as the fruits of their labor become evident in the garden year after year. It warms my heart to no end.

I also neglected to mention that we have Tigger Melon tucked in bales in front of the back panel, along with some of our tomatoes. I am hoping fervently that we are successful at growing them this year. They will have the tell-tale pattern of a watermelon but ripen to the yellow and orange colors of pumpkins. How fun!

There are a few more seeds that I need to find (or buy) space for. At the top of that list are Tendercrunch Carrots and Purple Dragon Carrots. I do so hope to finally see what they look like as large as possible! I would also like to try Watermelon Radish again, but I either cannot find or have run out of those seeds. 

In the meantime, our admittedly *very* late start to the 2021 bale garden season has finally taken off. I am immensely relieved! I hope all is well in your little piece of Heaven on earth. Blessings! :) 

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

Straw Bale Garden June 2020 Update

                               

My lovey new arches!

I suppose you can already tell that I could not decide which picture to use, hm? lol The garden is off and growing well for the 2020 season. As you can see, we have made some changes. :) In previous years, we have trellised just the back strip of bales. I have long wished to add a panel up the right side. We finally did! Also, Hubs and Shelly installed two lovely arches! Those, like the trellis sets, are simply made using 't' posts and 16' cattle panels. 

Tomato Update

I finally have some pictures of tomatoes! These photos are a combination of freshly harvested tomatoes and greenies we brought into the house to ripen, in hopes of saving them from critters. 

I'll start with the greenies pictured above. These were all solid green when Booh Bear picked them. We had lost too many huge, luscious tomatoes to invisible deer *eye roll*, squirrels, and rabbits. I should have taken the photo after they all turned, but I found the mid-ripening-process colors fascinating to look at. At full ripe we had a range of reds, yellows, red/purple, and yellow/red. They looked beautiful and tasted delicious!   

This next picture was a fresh batch that was brought in one evening. Most prominent in this photo are my Sunrise Bumblebee cherry tomatoes. Aren't they lovely? Not only are they photogenic, but the flavor is tomato perfection! I would describe them as relatively mild, with a seemingly low acid content and good mouth feel. I have already harvested some seeds to dry for next spring. <3 

The other small tomatoes pictured above are your standard orange plum tomatoes, along with some yellow pear tomatoes not quite in view. Also pictured is a smaller yellow mortgage lifter. 

The larger tomatoes, like this steakhouse, have been ripening mostly indoors. This is one of the smaller ones, but it gives you an idea of the size we are going for. I am serving these up in meals as quickly as I can get them ripe, along with the equally-large hillbilly potato leaf tomatoes. (Those are large red/yellow streaked heirlooms.) The flavor is bold, and everything you would expect from a hybrid tomato. They are delicious in fat, meaty slabs on a sandwich or in wedges served raw. <3 

This is part of our most recent haul. I say part, because I literally just tried to get a good mix of what we were harvesting into the photo. The basket in the background is the standard shopping size hand-held basket like you might find at a grocery store. (It was given to us by an elderly friend who had had it for decades.) The take I have partially pictured here was fully half a basket, both green and ripe. 

We took in sixteen different varieties of tomato that day alone, I believe. In fact, out of the twenty-three varieties of tomato I have planted, we have confirmed harvest of twenty-one of those (as of yesterday) in total. There are two that I have not seen come through yet, although I swear that a couple of the ones we had to throw out (half-eaten on the vine) fall into those categories. 

One tomato missing from my harvest so far is the black early, which plant got accidentally snapped in half early in the season. The other is, I am guessing, a plumito. Those look like the shape of bell peppers, even though they are tomatoes. I have yet to see any, although I did see plenty of them green on the vine. It may not be their time yet. 

This is a picture of different kinds of 'cherry' tomatoes. There are nine distinct varieties pictured, although I forgot to add the tenth. I placed a chocolate cherry in the picture, but not the black cherry. I have both. :) Not pictured are the yellow pear and the red cherry tomatoes we harvested earlier in the season. 

Again, you see most of these varieties because I took seeds from two variety packs I had purchased at WalMart and Sam's Club, dried them for a week, and then germinated them here at home. I do not even know what the long red paste tomato is called. It tastes a bit like a roma. They hang on the vine looking like jalapeno peppers. haha I am getting quite the return on those two purchases! ;)

One last picture before we go... 

We are done with zucchini, cucumber, and broccoli for the year. I have some baby romaine lettuce growing. We are just now beginning to take in orange bell pepper. My peppers in general (green, orange, and mixed) are still growing very slowly. Our potatoes were gorgeous, and tasted *so* good! I will definitely be growing these again in the future! Spaghetti squash has tasted delicious, as well. Butternut (only a few of each of these things pictured) squash has been prolific. I keep spotting another and another hiding out there in my jungle. In fact, we have shared more spaghetti and butternut squash with our neighbors than zucchini. That is crazy! The picture only shows a couple, but you get the idea.

Something killed my cantaloupe vine. That was heartbreaking for my daughter, who so dearly loves them. The watermelon vine put out two small melons, but those also fizzled out before we could really enjoy them in fullness. Most of our fruits and veggies have produced, but you can see that some had an off-year. Next year, I am going to consider working harder on a smaller garden.  

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So there you have it. If you were curious about the myriad of tomato varieties we have growing, this is your answer. They are definitely coming up! It took ages for them to ripen, we have dealt with critters eating them, the weather has been hot and brutal at times, but we have persevered. The 2018 garden season had a late start and has had a difficult summer, but it *is* producing goodies. We are very blessed. <3

Don't forget to tend those spiritual gardens! Feeding the soul is as necessary as feeding the body.