Farmer: Sod Busted Daily

From MyFolia

I lost 2 of 3 cantaloupes to deer. Evidence? Half eaten fruit and dear tracks. They also nipped the top of the pepper plants and tore down the bamboo poles for the beans and Roma tomatoes.

In other news the small plant that my son brought home from daycare has now blossomed into an eight foot tall sunflower. It's not an official part of the garden but I thought that I'd mention it since I've done nothing to it since I planted it, not even watered it. There must be some sort of mutant growth hormone in my soil or I'm just really lucky with plants. I will save the seeds for further scientific study.

From MyFolia

I harvested 5 pounds of bell pepper. The Bonnie Green Bell peppers were especially large and well developed. The Purple Beauties were also of a nice size and color.

From MyFolia

Took a gander at the garden over the last few days and noticed a very large mini honeydew, watermelon and cantaloupe. The Queensland Blue has set two pumpkins, one which is swelling at an almost alarming rate. I'm banking on the Country Garden to provide the pumpkins and my suburban planting was just an experiment. Regardless if I harvest only one I'll be ecstatic.

The fellow who gave me the mini honeydew seeds says that the fruit will be ripe when the skin turns slightly yellow and the fruit smells like "eat me now". Who knew that fruit could talk to you.

The lima beans are progressing well, as are the tomatoes. I've staggered the plantings enough that I'll have fresh ones until the fall frost. The straw bales are working out well for the Aunt Ruby's but they aren't receiving as much sun as the others so they are a little behind. Still a great idea for anyone short on space or having soil unsuitable for production.

This week has been especially good for the Queensland blue pumpkin as it's grown several inches each day and now has two runners that stretch halfway across my garden. The plan is to allow it to intermingle with the other plants, once they are large enough, to help suppress weeds and grass between the pepper and tomato plants. Unfortunately the leaves are quite large and the stems are long which means the plants must be at least 16 inches tall or they will likely be crowded out.

In other news the Roma tomato hybrids are doing well and have quite a few green fruits which will mature in a week or two. The remaining Mountain Spring tomatoes are beginning to flower and the green bell pepper has small fruits as well. The pole limas are vining like crazy and seem to really enjoy the plastic garden fence I staked up for them. The straw bale tomatoes are adapting nicely as well however they may need more sun which means I'll have to move them.