Pickin' Time -- A Garden Update

One of the best things about a vegetable garden is when you need to pick the bounty. After planning, planting, sweating, hoeing, and lots of looking at your work, all of a sudden, eureka, you have veggies! In the south we say "the garden needs pickin'." Containers are a must for pickin' time, we like farmer's baskets because they come in all sizes.

The hot peppers in our garden are so bountiful, we have to pick every other day to keep the plants blooming and the younger peppers growing.

We fooled the squash vine borers for a while by covering this straight neck yellow squash variety with ground cover cloth when it first peeked out of the ground until it was blooming. Then Diatomaceous Earth, an organic herbicide helped to keep the borers and squash bugs to a minimum.

This Patty Pan squash variety is hardy and a treat to eat.

As seen above the row of okra is healthy and will begin to bear pods in a week or two.

Jerry's watermelons are growing great! I just hope we can keep the critters like crows, rabbits and field mice from nibbling.

Today, I counted fifteen watermelons already formed in this row. To the right you see winter squash under the ground cover cloth.

Our tomato vines are full of large fruit but, so far the large varieties haven't ripened. I picked four today for "fried green tomatoes" to add to the vegetable supper planned tonight.

This year we chose "Rattlesnake" green beans over "Kentucky Wonder" and honestly, it appears this variety is good for Georgia hot weather and drought spells. We have picked a couple of bushels so far and frozen that many gallons. Pickin' the green beans is fun 'cause you can talk, gossip and catch up on what's going on at your house.

Although the eggplants have been invaded by thrips the yield keeps coming.

This red cabbage variety is heading quite well. I can't wait to make slaw for our annual fish fry.

Although for the last several weeks the weather has turned hot and dry, our garden is doing good. It takes more care to water and bug proof, but any time you can reap the rewards of a little hard work it's worth it in the garden.

I hope your pickin' and enjoyin' yours!

Until next time........

Happy Gardening 2012!


Posted by Wilma Smith