First Harvest

The "girls" saying good morning!

I went out this morning and weeded the garden walkways from the bermuda grass that grows (somehow) through the landscape fabric block that I put down this spring. 

I also added some more nylon string to the pea trellis.

Before

After

My alaska peas are rounding out and I'm hoping they might be ready in a week or two. My sugar peas are going bananas with blooms.


I cut the lower branches off of the tomato plants. 

Before

After

I've read that overcrowding and lack of air circulation is an issue with intensive gardening.  I've tried to make smart decisions on the plant "combinations" in each bed.  We'll see how sucessful I am.

Here is the"begining" of my cucumber trellis.  I'm still considering how I want this to work.  The idea is to have the cucs go vertical while I corner the bed with summer squash.

I did find this early sugar.  I've read that peas don't do so well once temperatures get into the 90's. That's where we'll be within a few weeks.

I harvested some "lettuce bowl" leaves.

TaDa...first harvest!  SM and I munched this salad for lunch.  A few bites each. 

I've read that lettuce (and carrots, onions, broccoli, cauliflower) do better as a fall crop here in the Piedmont.  Hot=bitter taste, cooler=sweeter tasting.

I plan on planting carrots, broccoli, cauliflower towards fall to take advantage of cooler fall temperatures and a longer growing season. 

The lettuce I put in this spring on a whim.  I planted bush green beans around them thinking that the shade from the beans might allow the lettuce to survive into the fall.  As a mature plant, once fall hits, my hope is that the lettuce will take off and provide a good harvest this fall.

The pumkin patch is looking good.  I'll be thinning the plants out in a few weeks.