July in the Vegetable Garden

Overgrown Yellow Squash June 2017

Overgrown Zucchini June 2017

It's early July as I'm writing this post. Just as the squash is growing at dizzying speeds, my occasional out-of-town trips have resulted in some overgrown vegetables. Even when I'm in the garden every day, though, it is easy to miss a zucchini squash hiding under the leaves.

A Beautiful Spaghetti Squash Blossom

🌿Squash
The insects haven't killed any plants yet. The harvest has been huge so once the bugs take over, I'll start removing plants. The slower-growing spaghetti squash is hanging on in a corner of the garden. The vines are narrow and fragile-looking. Time will tell if these plants will survive to produce gourds.

Partially Eaten Tomato Left on Well Cover

🍅Tomatoes
The tomatoes are starting to ripen. Some plants have severe wilt and I picked the large tomatoes to ripen on the kitchen counter. The squirrels have started to steal fruit and roll it out of the garden. Outwitting wildlife is all a part of vegetable gardening so I'll be picking tomatoes earlier than I prefer.

1st Eggplant Harvest July 2017

🍆Eggplant
Today I have eggplant ready to pick. Last year's 8 plants failed to produce due to severe aphid infestations. This year I started with 12 plants and treated for bugs a couple of times. As a result, the plants had many more flowers and the crop looks good. I have had to remove 4 plants because they wilted and died. Removal is handled in a sanitary way to reduce cross-contamination.

Green Beans Ready for Harvest

🌿Green beans
The green beans are producing and so easy to grow! I like sitting on my step stool, picking the beans, and listening to the birds calling to each other.

Jalapenos Over 3" Long

Jalapeno Poppers with Fresh Peas

🌾Peppers
This year's jalapeno and green peppers are producing well. I doubled up on the jalapeno numbers to make poppers. This variety is growing larger than I've ever grown before. Recipe for Jalapeno Poppers here: Jalapeno Poppers

🐜Japanese beetles are attracted to the eggplant and peppers. They are slow, clunky bugs and easy to catch and dispatch. Needless to say, they're having a field day with my hibiscus on the other side of the yard.

🌻Sunflowers
Having had gorgeous sunflowers in my vegetable garden in the past, this year is disappointing. First the squirrels dug up several seeds and seedlings. Then a few succumbed to wilt - not related to watering. I have about 8 plants surviving. 2015 was a great year for these flowers. This post has several photos of sunflowers.

It goes without saying that friends and family are benefiting from the garden bounty. Cooking and freezing vegetables is another option for me, but then I would have to stay inside, right? This is the time when the out-of-doors beckons with grass to cut and plants to maintain.

I would love to hear about your summer vegetable garden. How are things going? What challenges are you facing?

July will present a whirlwind of activity in the garden. I post on twitter daily about my garden activities at @gopamnc . Follow me and retweet to show your interest and comments. Thanks!😊

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