How's your garden doing? Here's an update on my pretty unusual veggies, as an entry for the July edition of the 🌺 SteemIt Community Garden Journal Challenge. You can still join by posting your own garden update.
The Challenge
This is the third time I'm hosting this 🌺 SteemIt Community Garden Journal Challenge, in which I invite participants to share what's going on in their garden.
This was the basic idea behind sharing a monthly update:
If we keep this up until the end of the season, you’ll have a great journal that tells the story of your garden. You’ll be able to see how your empty containers or beds turn into beautiful jungles of plants and flowers, and see your garden flourish with every month that goes by.
From past experiences, I’ve learned that such a journal feeds the feeling of accomplishment when you’re finally able to pick that first ripe tomato, or the first large zucchini.
And who doesn’t like to share his garden stories with like-minded people?
You can read all about this month's edition here
My Own Garden Update For July 2018
If I'm honest, I need to admit my vegetable garden is suffering. We haven't had a decent splash of rain in weeks, and temperatures are way higher than normal for our Belgian climate.
We can hardly keep up with watering all plants.
Since the last decent rain fell more than a month ago, the soil is completely dried out. It is going to be a real challenge to keep everything alive.
Maybe I should have chosen to plant those tropical fruits I want so badly after all, lol.
Harvest
When going through my previous update, I can see a lot has already changed.
We've picked and eaten all our raspberries and our one and only plum.
Believe me when I say it was the most delicious plum I ever had :0)
We've also harvested most of our cabbages, our potatoes and a lot of our carrots, radishes and beetroots. Oh, how I love the feeling of going out in the garden to pick whatever you want to have for dinner that evening.
We also enjoyed our watermelon from hell, and although I thought this huge piece of fruit had used up everything the plant had in it, two new ones are growing already. On the opposite side, on another plant, I had to come up with an idea to support the plant for carrying another giant watermelon.
Note to self: watermelons are not the ideal fruit to grow vertically.
Growing Veggies
Squash / Gourd
We have different kinds of squash plants, of which most are doing pretty good. But again, just like last year, I didn't always think through where to plant them. As a result, some of the squashes are growing on the 'wrong' side of the trellis, where I can barely see them, let alone reach them.
I am a little worried about the fig leaf gourd, though. According to my information, this plant is supposed to become a real giant, and that it can grow up to 50 gourds. So far, I have only one. And although the vines keep growing very rapidly, the bottom of the stem doesn't look very healthy to me. This is the first time I am growing this kind, so I am very curious to see where it will go from here.
Root Vegetables
All root vegetables are doing fine.
Both Yacon (or Peruvian Groundapple) plants are doing good, although they aren't as big as last year's.
The Jerusalem Artichokes are related to the Yacon plant and they are a first-timer in my garden. They've already grown to be over 2 meters in height, and it won't take too long anymore before they will start growing flowers. I can't wait to see how they will look.
This year, I have two containers in which I'm growing the funny, crispy Crosne (AKA Chinese Artichoke) tubers. Just like the other root vegetables, they will not be ready to harvest until frost comes, but I can see they are going wild underground.
I planted the Skirret last year. It was not such a revelation like Yacon and Crosne were, but since it is a perennial I decided to leave it where it was and let it grow again this year. It's not really a big plant above ground, but at least it grows flowers...
Lemon Apple Cucumber
Since I sowed my lemon apple cucumber seeds too late, I wasn't expecting them to grow any fruits.
The plants are still way smaller than they should be, so you can imagine how surprised I was to see that there were actually growing a couple of those yummy, round, yellow cucumbers.
They are still only babies, but they are really there...
Melon Pear
It is going to be a good year for the melon pears. I'm very happy about that, because it is one of the most delicious fruits I have ever tasted. Last year, it took the plant until August to grow fruit, but this year I didn't have to wait that long. There are already plenty of fruits hanging from the bush. It's a bit of a shame that they take so very long to ripe...
Next up, the greenhouse update, starring more melons, sweet peppers and a truckload of tomatoes. Top of the bill: the cucamelons are finally here!
I'll also let you in on all the flowers that are blooming in my garden. Stay tuned!!
Images source:
Sun Image: Pixabay
All other images are my own.
Congratulations @ simplymike, your post has been selected by the @asapers for a resteem and a feature in our brand new curation post. Issue 80
What does this mean for you? Well first an upvote from some members of the team, we are no @curie or @ocd but who is going to be unhappy with some extra upvotes. Also each post featured in the article will receive a 10% share of the SBD generated from the curation post.
Keep up the great work and please consider supporting the @asapers with an upvote and/or a resteem on the post you feature in. Please wait seven to ten days for payout.
Your friendly @asapers
Giving back A.S.A.P
I'm Sure @insideoutlet would hove a garden like that.
Thanks a lot, guys. I feel honoured :0)
Your garden looks amazing, so much variety in there. I think you have given me plenty of ideas for next year.
Thanks. That was part of the idea of the challenge: to get inspired and learn from others.
Glad I could give you some ideas :0)
This post was shared in the Curation Collective Discord community for curators, and upvoted and resteemed by the @c-squared community account after manual review.
Thanks a lot, guys. This really means a lot to me.
Congratulations! Your post has been selected as a daily Steemit truffle! It is listed on rank 13 of all contributions awarded today. You can find the TOP DAILY TRUFFLE PICKS HERE.
I upvoted your contribution because to my mind your post is at least 12 SBD worth and should receive 170 votes. It's now up to the lovely Steemit community to make this come true.
I am
TrufflePig, an Artificial Intelligence Bot that helps minnows and content curators using Machine Learning. If you are curious how I select content, you can find an explanation here!Have a nice day and sincerely yours,
TrufflePigOMG! I cannot remember the last time I ate a plum! When I was little we had the hugest plum tree in our garden and there was a particular branch on it that had a bend in it and was a "free hanging" branch. I used to pretend it my horse haha! I miss those days, and all the delicious plums!
Awesome harvest hon!
Thanks, @jaynie.
We planted our plum tree last year, and it was a bit sad to see that lonely little plum hanging on the bottom branch. I hope it will get some more brothers and sisters next year.
With the amount of love you appear to give hon, it will be a tree of grand announcement in just a few years xxx
Aww, what a nice thing to say. Thanks.
I'm out to go give it another hug now ;0)
MWAH!
Congratulations! This post has been upvoted from the communal account, @minnowsupport, by simplymike from the Minnow Support Project. It's a witness project run by aggroed, ausbitbank, teamsteem, theprophet0, someguy123, neoxian, followbtcnews, and netuoso. The goal is to help Steemit grow by supporting Minnows. Please find us at the Peace, Abundance, and Liberty Network (PALnet) Discord Channel. It's a completely public and open space to all members of the Steemit community who voluntarily choose to be there.
If you would like to delegate to the Minnow Support Project you can do so by clicking on the following links: 50SP, 100SP, 250SP, 500SP, 1000SP, 5000SP.
Be sure to leave at least 50SP undelegated on your account.
Lemon pears? And Lemon Apple Cucumbers?
Such unusual vegetables! But I bet they are delicious!!!
Melon pears are the most delicious fruits I've ever tasted. (That will probably change once I manage to get my hands on a cherimoya one day).
Lemon apple cucumbers are round and yellow and taste a bit sweeter than regular cucumbers.
What can I say, I love experimenting with unusual veggies, lol.
Sometimes it turns out to be a success, like with the Yacon and Crosne last year. Sometime it doesn't: tomatillos tasted awful and kiwano was too mean with all those tiny little thorns, so I banned them from the garden after the first year, making space for other unknown plants, like the Chayote :0)
This is the second post am viewing about gardening today. I literally had to ask google for some after which i figured out wont be bad if some was sprouting in me backyard. Thanks @simplymike for sharing i mean stuff like this require dedication of which i may not give a 100 and makes me envy your input...😅😅. Have a bountiful harvest though... (am in the wind)
Hey @kamiikazer. Long time no see. How are you doing?
Once all the veggies are planted, the hardest part is making sure you water them regularly.
Since my raised beds are spread around the garden, that does take take some time.
What a super cool post with the best lay out that I have seen today actually!
Yeah all gardens are really in need of rain I think these days, its just too bloody hot! (which I love, but the plants do not). That one and only plum looks like the sweetest one ever and actually most stuf in your garden is still doing really good!
Cherish it!
Thapnks for the kind words.
The plum was indeed the sweetest one I ever tasted, but maybe that was because I saw it being born and grow every day, lol.
I love these weird fruits and veggies you are growing! And I laughed my head off when I saw your "growing watermelons vertically". so funny!! I'm surprised the fruit is hanging on :)
I'm sharing this post with c-squared; hope they pay you a visit!
Thanks, @lynncoyle1.
I hope I will remember nexr year not to let watermelons climb, lol. But for now it is safe, since I created a sort of basket out of rope to support the weight.
haha @simplymike, a bra for your melons 😎
I completly forgot I could use a bra to make a hammock, lol.
Thanks for reminding me, @lynncoyle1 ;0)
hahahaha Have I got a vision of your garden now @simplymike 😎
Lol. I did use bras last year, but I've got to get some of bigger sizes this year ;0)
hahaha that's hilarious @simplymike 😅
Nice update. I have never heard of or seen "Melon Pear". What does it taste like? Melon or pear or something else? It's a beautiful, compact plant it looks like.
Love seeing your garden update. I always find something new I have never heard of.
The taste is described as being a mix between honey-dew melon and very sweet cucumber (the fruit is also called 'sweet pepino'). Personally, I did notice a very light pear-like taste too.
It is indeed a pretty compact bush. I assume it would grow bigger if it would be in the ground, but I have to keep it in a container to be able to take it inside during winter.
That sounds wonderful! I will look into Melon Pear. Thank you for opening my eyes to this plant.
You're welcome :0)
Hope you will enjoy it as much as I do.
It rained and rained and rained for weeks here in my area. When it wasn't raining, I wasn't home. So we went a few weeks where we couldn't pull weeds. When I finally got around to pulling weeds out my garden, they were as tall as the vegetable plants.
Good post.
At least you got to pull the weeds.my back still isn't strong enough to do so, so I've got to live with them. They are everywhere - I'm a bit annoyed by the fact that the garden is so messy because of them, but there's little I can do about. I guess I'll have to learn to live with weeds that are taller than my plants.
But then again: a weed is just a useful plant which virtues haven't been discovered yet.
A lot of them are edible or can be useful to fertilize plants or fight pests and diseases - I just have to learn more about them. Who knows I'll start appreciating them one day :0)
Look at all that growth! You do have a green thumb and growing so many cool veggies and fruits. I have a plum tree but no fruits at all. Perhaps there were some but the squirrels keep coming around to steal them. My apple fruits are destroyed because of those critters.
Filthy thieves!!
Looking good! We had big plans to do a garden this year...but life got in the way. really need to get to it next year.
That's what life does: get in the way.
I know all about that. If it weren't for my good- hearted girlfriend, there wouldn't have been a garden at all this year.
Maybe you could start with small plans; this way, life might get in the way, but you can still find a little time to accomplish those ;0)
Yes making the plans simple might have been smarter, but it's not to easy as there isn't a good spot to do it. So I need to build a flower bed and fence it as the rabbits are really bad around here.
I am seriously debating doing an indoor grow room for veggies as our growing season is short. This would allow me to control what we are eating a lot better.
Indoor growing is a good idea when the growing season is short. But it is probably a bit more expensive...
Cost is an issue for sure, but at the very least I need to set up to start seedlings as the Chicago weather just isn't very reliable early in the season so you never know when you will get to start growing. At which point I think it makes sense to use that equipment year round for some of the more expensive veggies to keep a steady supply.
I love all the different things you're growing this year! Thanks for sharing your amazing garden! I hope to do something next year.
Thanks, @viking-ventures.
I love experimenting with different varieties.
If I would stick to the plain old common veggies, I think I would get bored pretty fast :0)
When you grow something like this, it not only makes you happy, but also who look at your garden will be happy. You have definitely worked hard in the garden. Watermelons caught my attention. I like that.
You can be sure it makes me happy, lol. Sometimes I find myself strolling in the garden with this big smile on my face (while there's not really a lot to smile about in my day to day life).
It's like my stress-free zone, the only one I got :0)
Little things in life make us happy. When you are happy, that spreads to others. Thank you @simplymike for putting smile on my face :)
Keep doing what you do. Looking forward to reading your next update about gardening!
Thanks for the kind words.
It is always nice to hear one cluld make someone smile :0)
Wow that seems like more than a garden. I have like 5 plants in mine and well sad to say it is more like it down to 4 poor bell pepper just didn't make it. Well that was a nice post have a good one.
5 plants... that's how it started 2 years ago. Last year, it got completely out of hand, lol.
And although the plan was to keep it small this year, something went wrong along the way and now it is even bigger than last year.
I guess you can say I caught the gardening virus, to which there is no medicine :0)
What a lovely post @simplymike and awesome garden. Up voted and of course resteemed. :)
Thanks, @mudcat36. You can't imagine how happy I am to hear from you again. I thought you had abandonned us for good :0)
No my friend. Not at all. I just got tied up with some things for a bit that ate every free moment. I'll give you a shout in discord in a later if that's cool? We could do with a catch up me thinks. :) And by the way, that is a lovely garden you've got there. You managed the space so incredibly well and there's so much variety! Pretty stuff.
I knew there were things you had to deal with. I haven't been very loyal to SteemIt myself lately.
Still glad to hear from you 😁
You have your vote back! 😁 That apart, I am glad I stopped by. Showed some of your picks to The Husband, especially the trellises for your cucurbits and sqash. Hint, hint! Lol. Our melon pear died in the drought. Now we are re-establishing. We must find another plant..
Oh, and if you have surplus peppers and tomatoes, send them my way!
Happy Saturday to you and yours😁
I took some especially for your hubby: my calendula flowers all covered in aphids, lol.
Will add them to my next update ;0)
Hahaha! Look forward to that! I have actually persuaded him to plant son nasturtiums around the brassicas. Now he can't wait for them to come up! BTW we are in the throes of a winter heatwave. 30°C yesterday, and we have been consistently over 25°C for nearly a week. Not good.
You see, all men need is a little persuation, lol.
Here are two examples. I haven't been treating anything against aphids this year. I simply don't have the energy to go around with my garlic spray. Still,most of the crops are as good as aphid-free. Those bastards are simply in love with the nasturtiums (will take a picture later), the borage and the calendula flowers :0)
Click to enlarge
Click to enlarge
Sorry for the sideways pics. I just have a new phone, and haven't figured out yet how to turn the pics. If you click them to enlarge them, they are positioned right :0)
Ah, yes, I will most certainly show him. I need to get more borage. Mine went the same way as the melon pear, helped by a very efficient weeding person :( I have mentioned that borage is a great companion to sweet basil - it makes the basil flourish!
I decided to not replant borage next year.
When the plants are young, they are relatively soft and very delicious, but once they mature, they become very vicious. After last year's kiwano- and litchi tomato-adventure I swore I would ban all plants that were mean to me, no matter how delicious or useful they are ;0)
Hahaha! I completely understand. We are fortunate to have a fairly large garden and I relegate them to a bit where they can do their thing. Even more fortunate is a gardener once a week and I have the luxury (usually) of letting him deal with the vicious plants.
And 30 degrees in winter????
Forgive me my bad memory, but where are you from again??
We are now in the mid 30s, but it is mid-summer here 😎
Yip, that's the worry. I live in South Africa about 2 hours from Cape Town. e and a bit weeks ago, we were freezing with snow on the mountains https://steemit.com/photographysteempresssteemit/@fionasfavourites/snowblessings-e5pwzvgu2b
It's all wrong....
Yep. I think there's no possibility to ignore the results of global warming anymore... :0(
If I read comments here on SteemIt, temperatures are way above average everywhere...
But 30° during wintertime is pretty alarming, even if it is in South-Afrika
I like this initiative, my garden is full of weeds and unfortunately dog poop as its been raining for days and she still has to go and I'm not picking it up until it stops raining, which isn't due this week so I will spare you the images and the post lol. Side bonus the only herb I didn't kill, the rosemary was delish on our roast veggies last night. :D
It's the world on its craziest: we've been begging for rain for over month, lol.
You do know that most weeds are not useless, I assume? They are just plants of which vertues haven't been discovered yet, and our growing at places and times we don't appreciate.
There's way more to weeds than just being annoying, lol
We usually ste begging for rain so I dont mind it plus I love the sound of it, Especially ehen heading off to sleep.
As for the weeds, I did know that, many have great qualities yet to be discorvered but the prickly ones that spread life wildfire can do so elsewhere. Lol.
I hear ya! No matter how healthy and useful stingy nettles may be, I prefer them to grow somewhere else instead of inmy garden :0)
haha, yes they are not nice to run into. How are you doing? Are you recovering well?
One day is better than the other... There are days I can't get out of bed because of the pain, and other days it is practically fine. I guess it will be like that for a while...
@simplymike awww that's a bit shite, not the good days but the others and there is no continuous pain-free life, will it ever get back to that?
How is life with the little one, by the way? 😉
@simplymike Life is fun and busy and rewarding and challenging lol... He is a super awesome kid and we are very very pluck to have been matched with him :D <3
I like looking your garden. Nice tree
Thanks
@resteemator is a new bot casting votes for its followers. Follow @resteemator and vote this comment to increase your chance to be voted in the future!
Between you and @thelaundrylady...I will come pull weeds help out anywhere that's needed. Your garden is amazing. I love the variety of things that you have. Completely agree that it is wonderful to walk our and pick out what you want for dinner. Plus it tastes so much better than what you purchase at the store.
Thanks for the kind words.
I might hold you up on that promise, lol.
And I agree: fresh picked veggies taste so much better than those you buy in the store :0)
Lovely garden! I feel for you having to put up with that hot dry weather. It looks like you are getting a good harvest though. That's the challenge about gardening, it seems each year is a bit different and somethings will do well some years and others do well on others. I have started to appreciate the wild plants that come up and seem so resilient to whatever conditions nature throws at them. Thanks for putting up this challenge, I'm just adding my post to the July part for I missed the first two.
Here's an idea for supporting your gourds and squashes -
What a great idea! They can climb, and the fruits can rest on the shelves, instead of just hanging there until they become so heavy you have to support them with baskets made out of wire or even bras, lol.
I will remember this and try it out next year.
I admire those wild plants too. With these temperatures, I need to water everything at least every two days, but we have this blackberry bush in the garden that has started growing out of the blue a couple of years ago. There's not even a lot of soil where it is growing. I never water it, and it grows bigger every year - it simply doesn't care about the weather. This year, it's actually producing delicious blackberries. No water, no extra nutritients, but it's the best grower in the garden 😎
Sorry to hijack this comment! But this was the best way to share with you that you have earned some Globies this week! Unfortunately we don't have a currernt Waves wallet address for you. If you still need to set one up, start here https://waveswallet.io, and then message your wallet address to @freedompoint. If you have one already please send it a.s.a.p so we can release your rewards.
Global Homestead Collective Come join us on discord! https://discord.gg/KCYH4JX7
I just loved this post! You have a wonderful garden. We do the funniest things and have the most interesting lessons eh? I did the same thing with pumpkin last year - it was a terrible idea to try and grow them vertically.
Lol, glad to hear I'm not the only one doing such things.
I need to remember this towards next year, because it's not only the watermelons, but I also have two pumpkin varieties and three melon varieties growing vertically.
Last year I thought I was smart and added a trellis to the back of my gardening bed inside the greenhouse. I didn't forsee that there would be fruits growing at the backside of the trellis. Since it was built against the wall of the greenhouse, I couln't get to them. I had to take down the entire trellis before I could reach them, lol.
I started growing things vertically to save room, but also because we had a lot of slugs last year. By keeping everything off the ground, I could minimize the slug damage. Because of the heat and the drought, there are barely any slugs this year, but I didn't know that would happen when I planted everything :0)
So now it's all about being creative in finding ways to support those heavy fruits. At one point last year, I used some old bras as hammocks, which worked perfectly, to be honest... :0)
That is a cool idea - never thought to use bras or even old tights as hammocks.
I love growing vertically, I think it looks beautiful and we also have slugs. Nothing seems to keep them away from the garden. I think our garden might be a pilgrimage spot in the world of slugs. They seem to travel here from far and wide. (haha). :(
Have you ever tried planting cloves of garlic all over the place. And if your garden is not too big, a good solution is to spray your plants with a garlic spray. Slugs hate anything with a strong smell.
It worked very well for me last year.
You can find my recipe here: https://steemit.com/freedomfirst/@organicgardener/garlic-the-best-remedy-against-garden-pests-garlic-recipe-included
I must have mutant slugs because we are aspiring garlic farmers and there is garlic ...everywhere! They do fall for the beer traps though.
Thank you for the recipe, my mum was just asking me for one so she can spray her roses so I'll send her yours! :)
It's the world upside down, lol. Beer traps never work, while here in Belgium, we have the best beer in the world.
Maybe you should send your slugs here - they would probably love the beer - , and I will send you mine, since they don't like garlic... problem solved. ;0)
(Not that I would have many to send right now. Because of the drought, I only find two or three a week... )
Congratulations @simplymike! You have completed the following achievement on Steemit and have been rewarded with new badge(s) :
Click on the badge to view your Board of Honor.
If you no longer want to receive notifications, reply to this comment with the word
STOP