OT: garden updates: what's happening in your dirt?

[ClifSpliffy]

(shoreline east) starting to get cukes and cherry tomatoes. raspberries (epic expansion this year) look to be a week or so away (watch out for those rascally bears! there seem to be more lately. rabbits too), and everything perked up with the recent rain, but the ground has a funny, dry look to it. on the other hand, certain flowering things, starting with the daffodils, then azalea, rhodys, dogwoods, and now tigerlillys, have unusually long runs of beauty. the shagbark hickory chestnuts started to emerge in late june this year, which is not what the book says is supposed to happen. 'Following the blossoming of creamy white flowers in early summer and their pollination by wind and insects, chestnut burrs emerge in late summer.' i wonder if that is a result of the 'no winter' thing. as usual tho, the 'free range' brown turkey figs (planted in the ground years ago, no maintenance, nutrition, protection, etc) got moving around mid june, tho the typical 20-30 emerging shoots are down to about a dozen or so. mebbe they'll have some fruit this year. mebbe not. on a tip, we're messing around with knox gelatin as a fertilizer for some veggies this season. makes sense to try.

 

[j66kicker]

Here in AZ I grow 2 veggie crops a year in raised beds (sort of "artificial", but plants don't really occur naturally here). Tomatoes mostly played out by the end of May. Winter kale was done about then too. Got spinach well into June. Pulled up the rest of the beets at the end of June so I could stop watering (water doesn't really occur naturally here either). July-August are 'no grow' months - just takes too much water, and it's too hot for the plants to do anything productive. Even hot peppers, which love the dry heat, shrivel up and go into hibernation. Plant again ~Sept 1.

Forecast for next 7 days: 111-109-111-111-116-116-114. In that weather it's a challenge to keep a few annuals alive in pots. Plastic pots stay moist watering once a day. Terra cotta pots need soaked twice a day. So far so good though.

 

[psconn]

Eastern CT... In our garden... asparagus was good earlier in the spring but is past now. Sugar snap peas are tailing off as is the lettuce and garlic scapes. Bok choy is banging, cabbage and beets just about there. The blackberry patch is really loaded and I picked the first of those yesterday. Sungold tomatoes are just little green pearls right now, but coming soon. String beans, lima beans, peppers, chard and or course, winter squash still a ways off.

We also supported a local farm by buying a CSA share this year. A big box of farm-fresh veggies every week. Its been a VERY veggie season to say the least. What we can't consume gets distributed to less fortunate folks. Nothing goes to waste!

 

[ClifSpliffy]

those numbers look more like bowling scores than temperatures.

 

[dogged1]

those numbers look more like bowling scores than temperatures.

And based on your OP and that comment, I would be willing to bet that your a better gardener than bowler.

 

[Scud49]

Ah, Cliff, I hope you are a better gardener than, well, certain other pursuits and interests.

 

[Bama fan]

My dirt remains silent and undisturbed, a bit musty smelling, and perfectly content to leave me alone. And I return the favor exuberantly. Some nice farmers grow stuff and send it to Publix. They wash it and I go there and pick what I want and bring it home. No dirt, no bugs, no disappointment.