Who's Eating My Maters?

Every day many things change. Something comes to harvest, another becomes invested with a critter, and another sprouts. It's always fresh and interesting. I pull away dead leaves and expended plants, only to find space for something new to start.

I pulled my first real set of carrots from the ground. I'd tried out others, but this was the first time that I saw the tops poking out from the soil and brought them up. I found shades of orange and a little funky white growth. They were also the tastiest to date, but I'm not sure that for this carrot flavor, they are good enough for the space it takes to grow. I may need to try for a sweeter variety.



Tomatoes ripen on the vine every single day. It's a luxury to have as many as we'd like to eat. I've been giving them away, we eat them constantly, and still there are more. I thinking of what to make - perhaps pasta sauce to freeze for the winter? We are even considering canning. Plus we bought an extra freezer!




I started my second set of cucumber seeds. The first group I planted on the hill and they didn't make it. Now, however, I have some aggressive plants making their way up in the bed. It's time for reinforcement. They need something to hold on to.



We keep eating beans. They continue to bloom, grow and produce long, thick, almost perfect beans. Heath says they are his favorite thing from the garden. I've planted a new patch, which will be purple!



The bell pepper plants hadn't been doing much. I moved them into more sun, and still, not much was happening. I added a few fertilizer sticks to each pot (the first that I've used!) and now, a few weeks later, there are new blossoms and tiny peppers.


One problem: who's eating my tomatoes? In the past week, if I don't pick the tomatoes just before they are fully ripe, I find the flesh ripped open with huge masses missing. I'm not sure if its animal, pest or disease. They look perfectly healthy until just before they ripen. I've prevented further destruction by picking things a little early and letting them ripen inside. Who or what is eating my maters? Any expert opinions?

Oodles of Tomatoes

Tomatoes are here! Stealing a phrase from my Grandma Stelle, oodles of them! "Amber Colored" – little yellow globes - are abundant and with three plants, we have enough to pick everyday. All of the other tomato varies are ripening as well. I've had two large “Early Girl” and the “Julia Child” are almost ready. Tomatoes every day!

The peas are done – I was holding out as long as a few pods kept producing, but the plants were clearly past their prime. I'm looking forward to the fall crop.

I decided to pull out the garlic. I think the bulbs could have grown larger, but the greens were really fading and browning, I sign – I think – to dig them up. I've braided them to hang and dry.

It's past time for more planting. A few weeks ago I stuck more beans in between the bigger plants, which aren't producing as much as before. I'm working on getting next phases of crops going, but I fear I may be a little slow. I planted more cucumbers in the place of kohlrabi and beans where there were peas. More carrots went in, as well as lettuce, and purple basil too. This is my third try with the purple basil, which so far hasn't amounted to a single plant!

I have a dirty job coming up. We have both poison ivy AND poison oak in our yard. I've read up on getting all geared up to remove it, but I'm still scared I'll get one or both of the rashes. The advice I've read tells me to cover every inch of my body, wear rubber gloves, clip the greens, dig out the roots and then wash tools in rubbing alcohol. Wash clothes heavily and carefully. Any other suggestions? Ick...

Now I'm beginning to think about fall crops. I'll plant more peas, chard, kale and kohlrabi. Lettuces, of course, too. Perhaps some broccoli (since I never did get to eat my first batch), and maybe potatoes. I don't yet have seed for the broccoli or potatoes. Any suggestions? What about fall garlic? Since my spring garlic is so small, does anyone have a recommendation on a good variety?