After several months of neglect I’m thrilled that some of my vegetables are actually thriving! The tomatoes continue to be star of the yard, with several of the plants climbing higher than the fence, and producing plenty of fruit. The Sungolds are still a favorite of all who try them and even though they were the first to produce they continue to be heavy producers. The Maglia Rosa and Juliets have also been heavy producers with big beautiful bunches. Spike has been surprising guests with a slightly smoky flavor and interesting colors. The Italian Tree has lived up to its name and is now over a foot taller than the fence and has been a late producer. Now that it has started putting on fruit it has started to produce quite large beautiful dense red/pink tomatoes. The last to be planted, purchased from the Edible Schoolyard fundraising event, has just started to put on a fruit, so hopefully we’ll be able to extend our harvest with this later planting.
Juliet elongated cherry
Spike 
clockwise from top: Spike, Juliet elongated cherry, Sungold Cherry, Maglia Rosa
The squashes have done less well and haven’t produced fruit that didn’t shrivel up and fall off the plant until now! The White Lebanese has two potential squashes that have significantly outgrown the others that have been turning yellow and shriveling up. Even though it says it can withstand harsh conditions something has made this squash and the zucchini quite unhappy. I don’t think the zucchini is going to produce anything. I think the next time I try squash I will have to compost and mulch more enthusiastically.
The pumpkin has also struggled; slugs have been nibbling away at each fruit it tries to produce so while I wish I could have an all organic yard I chose to save the pumpkin from the slugs instead of having no pumpkins. So now there is finally one fruit that seems to be holding on and we may actually get a pumpkin this year. Granted it will likely be quite petit given its substantially shortened growing time, but hopefully we’ll get something!
The wax beans unfortunately did not survive the slug attacks and while we did get a couple of beans that were beautiful and quite tasty, they were devoured by the time we got back from vacation this summer. I’d love to try them again and hopefully with a little bit more care they will do a little bit better.
The kale continues to produce and while they look like umbrellas, they are still producing well, still tasty and hopefully it will continue to thrive. The plan is to let them produce for a little bit longer and then cut the stalks down in October/November and let them grow back. I may even plant some more since it’s clearly quite happy.
Last, and unfortunately least, the peppers have been nibbled on regularly by the deer we’ve discovered are visiting the yard while we sleep and haven’t really done anything. We’re still trying to find a solution for the deer visits…
