June is coming to an end

Amazing that only one more week and June will be complete.  The garden has been doing quite well, as the weather has been pretty much perfect, except for a few hot, humid days.  We have been getting just enough rain to provide for the veggies, the bunnies seem to have found new places to raid and the potato bugs have also moved on or died.  In fact, this evening I found my first Norland Red potato of the season, a medium sized beauty.  

There continues to be more projects on the burner, but the daily routine is pretty much set, with cooking, cleaning, walking and taking a nap. 

I planted 4 long keeper tomato plants that should mature by late August to early September.  These tomatoes are supposed to last 4-6 months after picking in the fall, so they may make the trip down to Florida.  I hope they taste better than store bought tomatoes.

I am also started some okra, as our neighbor likes them. He also likes beets, but for two seasons now I have had no luck growing beets.  Neither veggie appeals to me, so I haven't grown them before.

The good news is that my broccoli plants survived the "Bugs" onslaught and I have some nice medium heads growing.  Now, as long as the deer don't decide to come for a visit, I hope to harvest them in the near future.  With temperatures going back up to the low 90's on Sunday (predicted), I think picking broccoli is a good idea.  The peas are just about done and I will look for some "fall" selections and put them into the ground no later than July 20.  Any later and all I seem to get then is flowers.

I weeded half of the lot behind the waterfall, with the area where the new grapes are growing needing to be done as soon as possible.  So, that will be on the agenda first.  

Today I also started to can bread and butter pickles, selecting some smaller cucumbers (I did not plant pickles) that work very well.  The process is not very difficult and I am hoping the brine I made makes the pickles taste sweet and spicy.  So far I have done 10 jars, 6 pint jars and 4 half pint jars.  I still have quite a few larger cucumbers to cut up and make German "senfgerken" from them.  That requires skinning them, removing the seeds, cutting them up and then using a sweet and sour brine, can them for later use.  Lots and lots of cucumbers still growing and so far no mildew.  

I will add photos and perhaps a video showing how the tomatoes, beans, broccoli and potatoes are growing as I get time. 

So far, the best thing I have done in keeping the weeds down is putting down grass clipping.  Although some weeds pop through, the paths between the rows are looking very nice.  It also helps that I have expanded the paths to about 3 feet between rows thus giving me a chance to move around and pull out any weeds that do show up before they outpace the veggies.  

Finally, the blackberries are doing very well, lots of berries as the bees have done a superb job all around the garden.  I even had a few blueberries from the plant I bought this spring.  My gooseberry plants are also doing well and I hope to be able to transplant them to their permanent place next spring, or possibly even this fall.  I have to read up and see when the best time might be.  For now, they look quite healthy and are growing nicely.

Bread and Butter Pickles

The first potato of the season (Norland Red)

Shrimp scampi (Pete's style with home grown peas)