The Heat is On

I haven't been out in the field as much as I should be because of the heat. I just can't breathe well when it is hot and humid. I managed to go out today and water some. I cut all the basil in half and will pick one more time before yanking it. I have beets, spinach, carrots, and short season cabbages to plant in the high tunnel as soon as I pull the basil and the melons finish. The Hannah's Choice melons should be done in about 2 weeks now -- I'll keep an eye on them. I can't wait to try them. I'll have to take a picture of them and post it.

The Black Plum tomatoes are starting to turn red for me, thank God! I watered the tomatoes. I pray RAIN! I wanted so bad to try all the different heirloom varieties I planted and now that it has been so dry, I don't know if I will get any tomatoes worth selling from them. 187 tomato plants I planted! I have a couple of Blue Ballet hubbard squashes, but I'm sure I would have more if I had more water for the garden. I am surprised the Boston Pickling cukes are producing as well as they are. The Sugar Loaf Delicata are running, but I don't know if I'll have any squashes from them.

In the high tunnel, the Perkins Long Pod okra is starting to come on. My Black Beauty eggplant has flowers but no fruit, and there are no blossoms at all on the Round Mauve. Several of the pepper varieties have flowers, and only the hot peppers from Laos have any fruit. I am waiting for these to turn red before picking them. The late tomatoes I put in the high tunnel are twice the size of the tomatoes in the field and are loaded with flowers. They may yield the only marketable tomatoes I get this year.

I haven't checked the melon and pumpkin patches only because I don't want to accidently step on something. Those melons won't be ready till the end of the month anyway, so I will leave them alone until we get close to frost. My beans are full of flowers, but no pods yet.

The White Egg turnips really grew well for me. I will definitely plant them again next year. I do have some Gilfeather turnips that sprouted, as well as some St. Valery carrots, more dill, and Southern Giant Leaf Mustard greens. the Provider green beans are just too dry and I don't think I will get anything from them. The collards are growing well, and I have some Bull's Blood beets growing, but the deer are murdering me despite using over 5 gallons of Deer Off, Liquid Fence, and Deer Away products. They have chewed my pole beans down to nothing. I was really looking forward to trying some Cherokee Trail of Tears.

Anyway, I am already thinking about how to protect the garden better next year. I really think I am going to put up a secondary fence around each growing section. Either that or grow most items under hoops and row cover. Lots to think about!

I have some nice Stuttgart onions curing in the garage, and the potatoes will be done soon. I got a roll of film developed that I found in the bottom of my purse, but the pics didn't turn out at all as the roll was from when I tried taking pics without a battery in the camera. Talk to you soon.