Melons

This past week we've had plenty of rain and I uncovered several different kind of melons on the vines. Summer is winding down nicely. It appears I have watermelon, cantaloupe, cucumbers and a gourd growing. Just in time for fall!

Common Ground

I recently joined a writer's critique group in the North Richland Hills area and on my way to the first meeting, I stumbled across a community garden named Common Ground. Since DFW is a fairly large metroplex, I assumed we had community gardens. I have just never actually seen a community garden in person before. I was so impressed!

 

 

I stopped by on my way home to look around and hopefully speak with a gardener or two. Since it was 12:45pm and nice 102 outside there wasn't a gardener in sight. So, I grabbed my phone and took a lot of pictures instead.

 

 

                       

 

I discovered that peppers, okra, cantaloupes, watermelon, beans and squash are really popular with other gardeners right now. It was neat to learn that Bell Peppers grow nicely in this heat, especially since I haven't grown them assuming otherwise. I already knew that okra grows amazingly in our summers, but I had no idea how well. Some of the okra plants were the size of large bushes. Also, there was cabbage growing too. 

 

Every other plot had its own water spigot and check out these water barrels on the back side of the potting shed. Cute! There was a composting area, larger than I've seen before. In fact, the composting area appears to be as large as my yard. I really enjoyed all of the gardening signs and row addresses too.

 

 

 

  

  

 

Later I found Common Ground's website and that they are accepting applications for 2014.

 

So very tempting.

 

I realize I have a backyard and plenty of space to garden at home, but I imagine there is this sense of kinship at a community garden that you don't get all by yourself in your backyard. Plus, there is still so much I can learn from other gardeners, new and experienced. If I thought I could drive to NRH once a week, I would sign up now.

 

Perhaps I'll look for a place closer to home.

August has arrived.

And with it, the 100 degree temperatures. Not for long though, as they should begin their regular descent to the 90s this month by into the 80s by late September. Yay for Fall!

 

 

But not so fast. I've had a great summer with plenty of flowers in bloom, including tomato blossoms (which usually stop mid-June). In fact, I've had enough tomatoes this year to make three gallon size bags of tomato sauce. The last time I bought a jar of Ragu was in May! This summer has truly been a blessing and I've enjoyed actually having tomatoes in the summer....not December. Although, I 'm sure I will still have December tomatoes too.

 

 

I've also developed a fond love for my grill, using it for just about every meal I possible can. I've gotten into the habit of preparing pizza crust and side items like beans and rice on the weekends to free up dinner time by throwing something on the grill and heating up the side dishes.

 

The Cucumber/Melon/Gourd patch is growing quite nicely in this heat. Last month, I came home to discover a nice cucumber that had grown after our week of rain. I picked it a little too early, as most of the inside was not yet developed. The part that was still made a nice cucumber sandwich though.

 

I recently tried my hand at making hummus and it was delicious. Sadly, I didn't grow any chickpeas this year, so mine where store bought. I'm not sure how homemade hummus connected with pesto in my mind, but it did. My basil took off after all the rain we recently had and its been growing by leaps and bounds ever since. Which is how I arrived at Pesto. I purchased some pine nuts early this week and plan to make my own non-dairy pesto this weekend. I'll let you know how it goes.

 

Still hoping to get more Zucchini and an actual pumpkin this year. Both plants have taken a beaten from the heat in the past two weeks. I purchase some more Cotton Seed Compost for nutrients and a couple bails of straw to keep them weed free and hold in the moisture.

 

How is your summer garden growing?

More Sauce

 

After the rain we got last week, I noticed that some of my tomatoes were beginning to split. So, I harvested all of my Cherokee Purples, Roma, Chocolate Cherry's and what I believe is a Lake Tomato. Also, I had plenty of basil so of course I made some more red sauce. Yum!

Rainy Week

This past week we had what seemed like non-stop rain from Sunday through Thursday, then the sun came back out on my Friday off. All of this rain was great for the garden, the Texas drought situation and it brought temperatures down considerably.

 

 

I'm guessing we got at least two inches of rainfall, although it may be much higher than that. As you can see below, we saw quite a bit of rain.

 

 

 

 

What Kind of Tomato is this ?

I'm attempting to figure out what kind of tomato this is. I haven't grown them before, so I believe its one of the new varieties I purchased this year. I believe they may be Cherokee Purple since they have the dark green shoulders with the deep blush color growing from beneath. Only time will tell and I'm excited to see what they turn out to be.

Tomaoto Harvest

I harvested just over 3lbs of Tomatoes this evening. I've already made a tomato sandwich and started some red sauce, the recipe I got from Skippy's Vegetable Garden (scroll to September 22nd). I really enjoy summer.

 

Composted Cotton Burrs - RESULTS

Its been less than a month since I applied composted cotton burrs to my tomatoes on the recommendation of a gardening friend and it works!

I've never purchased this type of compost before, but the results are impressive. I was hoping that my tomatoes would double in size by July. They did more than that, they tripled in size.

May 20th 2013 - Standing next to my raised bed the tomatoes reached my knees.

 

Somewhere in between - Mid Thigh

Somewhere in between - Still growing

 

June 20th 2013 - The tallest variety now reaches my eyes. 

First Tomatoes

 

I enjoyed my first tomato of the season last Thursday! Finally, a tomato in the summer - this is a garden first for me!!!

A friend of mine had text me a picture of her first tomato on Tuesday, it looked like a pineapple I had shared with her earlier this spring. Due to the lack of time I've had to spend in the garden, I didn't realize that I had my first tomato just waiting for me.

What makes it even more special is that I grew this variety from seed and it beat the early girl variety that I purchased when I thought I might have missed my window. There is plenty more growing and I expect a big harvest over the next couple of weeks.

How are your tomatoes growing? I want to hear from you - what has worked in your garden....what hasn't ?

Summer Flowers

 

Harvest and Seasons

 

I'm transitioning into a new season of my life and I'm excited about change. In fact, it feels like the last nine months have been nothing but change. Good Change.

 

But, its important to change well. What I mean is, I believe when your stepping into something new its wise to make sure your not leaving a mess behind you. So for the past two months I've endeavored to do just that, change well.

 

I've focused on raising up new leaders to replace me in a variety of areas and while I've enjoyed it and discovered a new found passion for mentoring...I haven't been able to spend much time in the garden.

 

My blog probably doesn't reflect that though. I tend to take a bazillion pictures during the time I do have and schedule posts in advance to make sure I have something to look back on come winter. God has been faithful during this time, with steady rain every week to make up for my lack of watering. He is good!

 

As a result, I discovered that I have quite a bean harvest, even after feeding the local bunny population. More on that in a future post. Tonight I harvested a variety of beans, a patty pan squash, my first roma tomato and a yellow crookneck squash.

 

 

 There is nothing quite like coming home to a surprise harvest.

What is this?

In the past few days I've noticed that my some of my Sunflowers are withering from the top down. Also, there are these little red guys (below) that appear to having amazing eye sight and are all over my sunflowers. I'm not sure what they are yet.

 

Does anyone have any suggestions of what this might be?