Let it Pea

Last week our pea plants outgrew the supports that we built, stretching out much higher than we imagined they would, and toppled over. I thought the plants were going to be in trouble and was trying to figure out a way to increase the support and push the plants back up. They were much too heavy and everytime I pushed the plants upright I felt like I might break them, so I opted to just leave them be and see what happened.

As you can see from the picture above, they've kept growing and we have a ton of peas ready for picking.

The pea plants basically hit the ground and then started growing up from there, so they all have this funny sideways Z shape to them. It'll probably be tough to harvest but seems to be okay for the plants. They have a lot of flowers still, and seem like they're doing okay.

The Cherokee Purple tomatoes are getting larger and larger ...

... as are the Brandywines ...

... and the Romas ...

... and the first cluster of Sweet 100 Cherry Tomatoes have probably reached maximum size. Just waiting for them to turn red now.

The Super Chili peppers seem like they're going to give us a ton of peppers to use. Hopefully the timing synchs up a little better with the cucumbers, so we can use them in pickles.

We've picked a few of the peppers (including Joe Camel) already, and used them in grilling. These three are still out there, although they're looking a little brown and weak. I'm afraid they may rot and fall off before they get to a nice edible size.

Squash plants have pretty nice flowers, actually. Who would've guessed that?

The inside view of one of the squash plants shows a bunch of little finger size squashes. We picked a few fat fingered ones this past weekend for use in some grilling.

We need to start making some pesto ...

The dill is looking very pretty with it's yellow flowers. It's all mostly gone past already, and we haven't used any of it for anything. Come on cukes, we need you for pickles! You're holding everything up!

We pulled one head of lettuce this past week. Very tasty.

Onions, like most of the rest of garden, need some weeding. Who has time for that?

I take this photo as a sign that the carrots are growing well. They're causing fissures and earthquakes in the garden as they crack through the soil. It's probably time to start pulling and eating some. I'll bet they're sweet and tender.

Here's a view from the front right corner of the garden, looking back along the tomatoes, peppers and squash.

A view from above towards the squash end of the garden.

A view from above towards the pea end of the garden.

The peas tumble 4 ya

The peas have many, many flowers on them this week. They've been looking really good, up until now ...

The plants outgrew the supports in a major way this past weekend, while we were away. Today, they toppled over, and have all but broken. It's hard to make it out in the photo, but that's them all bent over and such. We need to improve the support structure pretty darn quick before they the plants all snap off. I'm not quite sure yet of the best method, but I'm stewing over a few ideas.

The cucumber plants, by contrast, are still growing to fit into their new support structure. They seem pretty happy and we've got a bunch of small 1" baby cukes coming along.

The green peppers, like Joe Camel here, are almost to an edible size. They'll be finding their way into salads and onto skewers for grilling very soon.

A few chili peppers have gotten to about 4" long. Just waiting for some red.

The dill is flowering. We want to let them go to seed so that it all drops and reseeds itself and, if we're lucky, we get a second crop this year.

Squash is almost at an edible stage. The biggest, shown here, measures between three and four inches long, I'm guessing. Almost time to pick. We learned last year to pick them a little early, otherwise they have wicked growth spurts and turn into gigantic monster squash full of seeds before you realize it.

Another view of a different squash plant.

The onions are starting to bulb up. Exciting. Last year we didn't get any onions, so things are looking much better this time around.

Carrots continue to prosper.

We've used basil in a few recipes lately. The plants themselves seem to be growing slowly, but picking leaves every few days encourages new growth for sure.

Lettuce make some salads already, sheesh.

Tomato plants are getting large. The cherry is up front with three Romas, a Brandywine and a Cherokee Purple behind it.

One of the Roma Tomato plants has this bunch of flowers and a couple very very tiny tomatoes starting to form.

Cherokee Purple tomatoes have taken shape.

There's this one cluster of cherry tomatoes deep down inside what's going to be a giant plant.

New to the garden this week: Parsley. Give it a few days and it'll perk up.

We also added some mint.

The blueberry protection went up at the end of last weekend. Four posts with eye hooks in the end, and a length of cable stretching around from one to the other: Free (recycled from last year). Four 14' x 14' pieces of bird netting, zip-tied together: $28.00. Protecting your blueberries from hungry birds: Priceless.

The blueberries haven't changed color much from last week. They're still just barely getting a touch of pink.

Flowers in the Yard, Tangent One: Sundrops

I had snapped a couple photos of the flowers when suddenly hustle and bustle caught my eye. Ants are running crazy on these things, up, down, every which way. I'm not sure why the ants like the Sundrop flowers, but they do.

Flowers in the Yard, Tangent Two: I have no idea what these are called. They could be weeds, for all I know, but they're nice. And pink.

Another caterpillar, and a tomato lesson

We spotted this guy on a dill plant. I think he's the big brother (or mother, or father) of the one I photographed last week. I took a few good pictures of him but then spotted a foamy egg sack looking thing a little ways below him on the same plant, so I pulled him off and broke off that part of the plant and tossed it. I don't know what kind of caterpillar he is, but I don't want to take any chances.

(Edit: a little bit of research revealed it's the adult larvae of the Black Swallowtail Butterfly.)

Over in pea territory, we've got the first flower. The plants are pushing five feet tall and have outgrown the supports we built. I need to call some engineering friends to figure out how to extend the supports in the most effective manner.

The squashes keep growing. This guy's about 2 and a half inches long now, and has two younger siblings hanging around, trying to look cool by association.

Here's a shot of the entire squash plant.

True to my word, we got some supports for the cucumbers erected. We'll just need to keep an eye on them and make sure they're using the twine to climb and not just sneaking under and spreading out. Up up up, I say!

There's a few tiny little cucumbers starting to form, which means it's not long until we get to make some pickles.

Is it just me or does this pepper, now almost four inches long, resemble Joe Camel?

Also in pepper world, the chili pepper plants have a couple little guys down deep in the center. They'll also go in the pickles, if they redden up in time.

Time to make some major salads with this romaine ...

The carrots are coming along. We thinned them some, which was kind of heart-breaking. In the end, though, I know it'll benefit those that are left.

Here's a shot of the Cherokee Purple tomato plant.

I don't usually go into instructional mode, but this guy needs a little bit of pruning to help encourage stronger and better growth and production of tomatoes. Last year a friend of ours told us how to do it, so I'll share that knowledge here.

Essentially, what you need to do in this case is break off any of the shoots that grow out from where the main stalk meets the larger branches, for lack of a better term. The illustration below (just a close-up of the photo above) shows the ones that need to be broken off on this plant, highlighted in red.

So, break all those guys off and the plant will thrive just a little bit more. Have I done it yet? Nope, but I will, I promise.

The onions and shallots are looking big and strong.

And so is the garlic. Which will also be used in pickles.