July 17 column: Vegetable garden update

I can’t believe how quickly this summer is zipping by! Since it’s Sunday, it’s time for another of my garden columns, and this one is a vegetable garden update: Wacky weather causing confusion for crops.

In it, I discuss how most of the veggies are growing. In general, everything is doing well. The artichokes are finally putting on new growth (although I did lose a plant to a stealthy gopher recently, grrrr!). The peas are just about done for the season, but we’ve really been enjoying both the ‘Laxton’s Progress’ and ‘Sugar Magnolia’.

You’re looking at some ‘Italian’ pole beans at the top of my bean arbor. We’ve already had our first picking!

Bill just harvested the garlic and shallot crops, so I already have planted that bed with cover crop seeds (a mixture of rye, buckwheat and field peas). I’ll let them grow until the buckwheat gets ready to flower, and then whack! I’m going to chop them down and turn them into the top layer of soil so they’ll decompose. That will add lovely nutrients back into the soil.

The potatoes (‘Yukon Gold’ and ‘Viking Purple’) are both doing well. I think I can start sneaking a few new potatoes from the plants. Yum.

The photo to the left shows some of my ripening grafted ‘Black Cherry’ tomatoes. They’ll turn more of a pale brown, which certainly makes it tricky to know if they’re ripe!

The onions (see photo at top) are coming along nicely and they’re of a decent size to harvest for cooking, so I’m starting to harvest every other one to leave extra room for the remaining ones to form large bulbs for winter storage.

I just harvested my first pole beans this week, so it has been busy-busy around here lately. No rest for the weary and all that.

I promise to continue to give you a vegetable garden update from time to time, and it’s just about time for my next video tour of our vegetable garden so stay tuned…