This is the time when the garden is beginning to produce and its time to balance life and summer fun with harvesting vegetables and flowers. Sometimes this is not an easy task.
Cucumbers
The cucumbers are starting to come into the garden and they need harvested when they are young and tender. I keep a pair of scissors in a mailbox placed by the garden so that I can snip off the cucumbers from the plants. Tearing them off can damage the plants.
Cucumbers also need plenty of water so that they grow well and do not become bitter. I grow about five crops of cucumbers during the season. This makes sure I always have a crop in harvest plus I make pickles so I need a large crop to do this that are ready at one time.
Beans
Beans are probably one of my favorite crops. They have so many uses and are great to munch on while working in the garden. I never use chemicals in my garden so this is something I can do.
I grow about three crops of bean during a season. I also can beans so I try to have a large crop ready at one time. I pick the bean when they are about 4 inches long so that they are very tender.
I grow green beans, yellow beans and bean to dry.
Summer squash
This is probably one of our favorite crops of the summer. They are so versatile. I grow several different kinds of summer squash and try to keep up with this crop can be challenging. They grow overnight…
The biggest problem I have with summer squash are the squash bugs, I learned a secret of planting radishes near squash plants. Let the radishes go to seed and the bugs will avoid the plants.
Tomatoes
My all time favorite vegetable is the tomato. I grow seven varieties and heirloom varieties are my favorite. Tomatoes warrant their own article. My crop is just coming in and I hope it’s a good season for them.
All told I grow about 30 different vegetables in the garden, plus flowers. Flowers add color and fun to a garden.
My most unusual crop this year would be the walking stick plant. It’s a type of kale that at the end of the year you can save the stalk and dry it to make a walking stick out of. I came across this vegetable one year when looking for unique seed and plants. My philosophy is that gardening should never be boring.
Tags: harvesting crops, cucumbers, beans, tomatoes, garden tips
Leave a Reply