Summer arrived last week

I'll admit it. I've been very lackadaisical about spending time in my garden, and updating my blog. But in my defense it's been H-O-T! Our weather jumped from a relatively mild spring with low humidity and temps in the upper 80's to temps in the upper 90's and low 100's and lots of humidity. Its like stepping outside into a sauna, and it really zaps the "fun" out of gardening. And to make matters worse, I can't even take pics when I'm outside because my camera lens fogs up the minute I walk out the door. :(

The change in weather pretty much did in my cauliflower. I was hoping I could harvest a head or two before it got abysmally hot, but alas and alack, no such luck for me. So I pulled up all of the cauliflower (3 plants) and the gone-to-seed broccoli (4 heads) and chucked them in the compost pile. Now I need to figure out what I'm gonna do with that half empty box. Maybe I'll plant some summer squash. It's not too late is it??

Nothing seems to have happened with my eggplant that bloomed, but I have another bloom, so maybe something will happen this time.

Bloomin eggplant

About two weeks ago my corn started tasseling. And boy has it tasseled like kuh-razy! Sadly I have ZERO silks as of this posting. I had tried to stagger my planting in hopes that each corn would tassel and silk in sequence with no overlap. So much for that silly thought. They're all tasselling at the same time. Of course, if there are no silks, I guess cross pollination won't be an issue. And at this point I'd be thrilled for the stuff to crosspollinate if that meant that I got some corn out of my garden! Another difficulty I'm having with the corn is that I can't seem to keep it wet. I'm having to water every day. I was hoping with Mel's mix that wouldn't be necessary, but I guess corn uses a lot of water. Plus that box gets a lot of sun.

Lots of tassels

Getting taller

The tomatoes on the other hand are going hog wild. Tying them up to the trellis has become a full time job. Whose idea was it to grow 8 tomato plants in one box???? What a dum dum.... I also had to pull off another tomato that had split. I guess I'm giving the tomatoes too much water?? The leaves look all curled up and sad in the evenings, so I thought more water would make them happy. I guess that's just their natural response to horrid temperatures.

I guess I should've made the trellis taller. The cherry tomatoes have outgrown it.

Quick Pick tomato - this one is bigger than the last one we ate

Sweet 100 cherry tomatoes

I think this is Black Krim?

My carrots that survived are looking pretty good, but I'm not sure when to pick them. Anyone have any suggestions??

Little Finger carrots

Chantenay Carrots (foreground. Potatoes are in the background)

I decided to harvest some of my green beans today. Several of them have kinda withered and died on the vine because I don't like green beans, and my hubby is out of state right now. But I decided I'd pick what was ready to harvest and put them up in the freezer for him til he gets home. As I began to pick I noticed that about half of the green beans had holes in them with what looked like little eggs inside of the bean. I kept picking and finally discovered a bean with a little green worm on it. The culprit had been located. I'm not sure what he is though. Guess I need to google him. I'm a little disappointed I didn't catch this critter early, but not too upset because as mentioned previously I loathe green beans. Have I mentioned I really don't like 'em? They have been fun to grow though. I had 100% germination, and overall they are pretty low maintenance plants - aside from the worms anyway.

The green bean eater

My peas are coming along pretty nicely too. I'm not really sure when I should pick them. I guess I'll consult with Charlie's Uncle Calvin as he raises peas too.

The blackeyed peas

I'm off work this week. I was supposed to be in beautiful southeast Missouri visiting my folks, but it just didn't work out. So now I'm stuck home in blah, hot East Texas studying for the CPA exam. Taking our annual river trip sounds like loads more fun, but on the plus side I don't have to find anyone to garden sit. Hopefully I can get out and play in the garden in the a.m. before it gets too hot. *fingers crossed* I was up by 7:00 a.m. today (which is early for me) and had every intention of going out then, but I had a splitting headache and decided to take some Advil and sleep on it a little longer. At 8:45 when I woke up my head felt a lot better, but it was already toasty outside. Maybe tomorrow will be nicer.

Well, I'm off to study. Wish me luck! Truth be told I'd rather be outside playing in the garden in the 100 degree heat than studying. urgh!