July in the Vegetable Patch

My vegetable garden is on schedule, except the current list of activities have been delayed by my over-exuberant flower seed starting this year, with the consequences that I have a lot of plant starts to get set out in the garden hopefully before it gets too hot.   Meanwhile the temperatures are rising.  Anyway, the chores that need to be done are laying the soaker hoses, partly done, and then mulching heavily with sheet composted/cooled grass clippings that will keep the water in and the weeds down.  Then the garden can just be maintained by connecting a different soaker hose every day.   The tomatoes are only partly staked up too, so that needs finishing, with bamboo poles I have already cut.

  The cucumbers are doing very well, I hadn't checked for a while and found one plant, Armour (parthenocarpic, disease resistant), that had 5 cucumbers on the bottom and another slightly bigger one above them, so I picked one to try them out-

The other cucumbers, Diva (parthenocarpic- ripens without pollination), and Tanja (big and productive), are   blooming and setting small cukes.  North Carolina Pickling is a fantastically yielding yellow cuke.  Eureka and Gemini from former years didn't grow.  

Squash I'm growing are my favorite Crookneck with that wonderful buttery flavor, and Cocozelle which beat with the first female flower hence the first gardener-pollinated fruit-

BTW if you want to identify a female squash/cucurbit flower, they have a tiny fruit under the flower.

My tomato list this year has determinates- Orlovski, Napoli; 

Roma types- Tegucigalpa, San Marzano,  and here tiny Heidi-

Hearts- Verna's Orange Oxheart, Shapka Monomaka, Monkey Ass, and my record high producer beefsteak Gogosha, big and potato-leaved-

 Black Sea Man at 1 1/2", 4 cm-

 plus late blight resistant and smooth unblemished Legend.

I'm trying Burgundy Okra but don't expect much since it's not hot enough here for them.  

My bean list is extensive and includes Bush Snap beans- heirloom Romano Yer Fasulyasi, heirloom early cold tolerant wax Pisarecka Zlutoluske, planted out April 15, picked the first beans today-

Compared with another bean planted a couple of weeks later-

That's why I count on Pisarecka Zlutoluske for early beans, 12 oz first picking, yummy-

Regular bush snaps pencil-thick Speedy and Velour, black-seeded Romano Marconi nano.   Here are a couple of bush bean/half runner beds, I need to get supports up for the half runners-

Half-Runners Red Peanut, Wood's  Mountain Crazy, 

Pole snaps Zelma Zesta, North Carolina Speckled Greasy Cut-short, Uncle Steve's, Grandma Robert's Purple Pole, yellow shrimp Annelino Giallo, and Runner beans Corona AKA Bianco di Spagna and Sweet White Runner.  Corona and runner beans can be planted out April 15.  Corona has grown past the top of the trellis now, and is blooming.

I'm in the process of clearing out last year's turnip, radish, and kale that have gone to seed, throwing the seed heads over the fence to do some winnowing and seed saving, and also removing a lot of weeds as well,  and will be replanting greens in that bed before July 15, which is my deadline for getting greens into the ground that can overwinter and will make early spring greens next year.   I overplanted last year so have quite a jungle to clear out.  But I did get greens and turnips way into the fall and lots of greens in the spring if I keep the flower buds picked, also edible.

I will post photos of my beds in my large garden area above after I get the rest of the weeds out and get the greens planted.   This is the bed that has my tomatoes, squash, and cucumbers.  I have to have fencing to keep out the deer.   I saw a mother with 2 spotted fauns this week.

Happy growing, Hannah

Linking to Backyard Farming Connection and Harvest Monday.