Friday, July 17, 2020

Midwest Gardening: Heat and Vegetables Mid July 2020


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Here it is the dead of summer and we have been waiting to harvest something other than lettuce, green onions and peas. 
At the beginning of the month we had a huge rain, and then some major heat like much of the country. 

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Dry during the heat we had to water constantly to maintain how huge all the plants are. Here is 4 yellow summer squash plants.



Weekj of July 5th, lots of blossoms and fingerlings that seemed to just stay that way.





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Being so hot, the cherry tomatoes have a bit of yellow leaves. simply from the heat, still no tomatoes, though lots of blossoms.


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On the side of the greenhouse, the tomatoes aren't doing well? But these were the San Marzanos that have been anemic since day one??? We will be taking these off of our seed list next year.



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Week of July 5th...these are the Better Boys! Getting big and healthy, but green still. Some plants simply shut down in too much heat.
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The Pickler pickles have begun to have a few here and there!

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The bush pickles are FULL of blossoms---ready to explode.



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The other side of the bedspring are Burpless and Chicago ....a bit of yellowing, but lots of blossoms. 





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On the north side we have sunflowers between the trellises holding the pole beans, Kentucky wonder. Lots of vines, when they start we will have tons of beans.


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Beans on the trellis, and sunflowers between.


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The Calendula are blooming here and there in the garden to encourage pollinators.

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All the winter squash plant varieties, seem to be doing fine.
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The peas are bearing here and there, but.  they are huge quickly but still tender and very tasty! I planted them in the shade of a table...so they don't have full sun all the time.



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The week of the 5th...a few cucumbers more than here, peas, zucchini, and onions. 

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The green onions are fine in the railing pots. 

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Herbs are basically frying on the porch, I picked after these photos. 
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Lettuce keeps coming on the porch, on the railing pots and the one bed, which I need to reseed soon. After the heat.


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We've had a few cucumbers from the pot on the porch



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This is a Better Boy ....really going nuts! 

After the Storm--July 16th,  finally some notable produce.

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We had 3-5" of rain yesterday.  Harvesting TIP: This morning Hubby went and picked so the tomatoes wouldn't split.


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These are all Early Girls, nice and firm and full bodied---we are having pasta tonight with all this fresh produce.


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And, Cucumbers explode in one day now...with the heat and the rain. Crazy, so fresh Danish Pickles, recipe HERE will also be on the Menu.

I wonder what will explode tomorrow? 

How is your garden doing in the HEAT??










16 comments:

  1. My home garden is probably dead, having been here for two very hot weeks and the plants I brought north are failing. I don't even have flowers on my tomato plants yet. So I look at yours with a twinge of envy!

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    1. Aw, Jeanie....you never know, sometimes plants simply shut down because of heat. I've been fighting with the broccoli and two plants look like they might eventually produce. Keep the faith, and how nice you got away for a bit. Sandi

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  2. We tried to have a garden once and were super discouraged! Yours look great. I love green onions and fresh cucumbers.
    Jan
    Laughter and Consistency

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    1. Hi, Jan. I really recommend pots if you have had issues with a big garden. We were in a townhouse for 7 years, and still grew beans, cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, and lettuces all in pots and planters. Upside is you don't seem to have as many pests in pots, except for the occasional squirrel helping himself. I've had great luck with eggplant in pots, and the garden ones are doing poorly this year. Good luck and thanks for stopping by!

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  3. How hot does it get there? In this area of CA we would never get lettuce to even sprout in the heat at this time of year, much less even produce anything edible. The daily range here is mid-80s to low 100s and we get no summer rain.

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    1. Hi Pat, I think it's because I plant lettuce where it gets shade 1/2 the day. We have had consistent record mid 90's with high humidity--which might be the key. Also, June had the most rain recorded and most over 90's days recorded.We water pots/containers at least once every two days, gardens twice a week if no rain. Thanks for stopping by, and try anyway-- my railing planters have done really well this year, despite the heat.

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  4. Sandi,
    Wow!! You have a lot of vegetables planted!! I am not able to eat a lot of vegetables because of my IBS. We are in our second heat wave for July..Making it our hottest July on record here...I am trying to keep up with watering my flowers as we are not getting the rain that we have been lucky to have over the last few years...Thanks so much for stopping by!!
    Hugs,
    Debbie

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    1. Yes, Debbie the weather has been extreme, with those high 90's and all the rain we had in June...? Very hot here also so far this month. And my flowers love this, except for the bachaelor buttons which bloomed and then died immediately, but the zinnias are NUTS! Thanks for stopping by here, too.!

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  5. Sandi, what do you do with all those beautiful veggies? Summer tomatoes are the very best..Stay well..xxoJudy

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    1. LOL, I just threw tomatoes, onions, everything into my big crockpot along with some ground chicken, chicken spice, new potatoes, baby carrots, bayleaves, and add later-peas.This is something my hubby's Bohemian family called 'big dish'. Can be made with chicken, pork or beef...and was a way to use up vegetables. I'll then freeze some containers for dinners. Hubby says it's a cross between stew and soup, always best the second day. He said they made it in HUGE kettles for summer gatherings, probably an off shoot of farmers getting together to share chores like haying.

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  6. Now I am hungry for some sauteed zucchini, squash and tomotoes. YUM! My drought tolerant perennials and herbs are hanging in there but I am having to baby all of my plants and vegetables in this sweltering Kentucky summer sunshine!

    Thanks for sharing your garden with us at TFT!

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    1. Aw, Amber, it's the same here! It's like we aren't even north of anyone here in Chicagoland...think we will break another record this month after 3 others (2 rain-1 heat). Thanks, for stopping by!

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  7. Looking good! Thanks for sharing at Vintage Charm!

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  8. Hi buddy,
    Gardening blog you shared really awesome! Your midwest gardening idea is awesome! Great work, thanks for sharing your amazng blog.
    Thx. GardenHubs

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    1. Hi, GardenHubs. Just trial and error over the years. Though this year has been a challenge, cold wet spring and very hot summer. Thanks for stopping by! Sandi

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Thank you for any and all comments. I will be happy to answer any questions or comments in replies or email! HUGS!