Pizza Night

It's Friday, so it's pizza night.  Tonight's pizza is zucchini, tomato, and green pepper. 

Dahlias

The dahlias are almost all blooming.


Improved Orange Cushion

Smokee Gal

Orange Pekoe

Chee (actually it's a lot darker, a maroon)

New Berry Fence

Today we put in new posts on the wire fence supporting the Beckyberries and Boysenberry.  The hardest part was untangling the canes from the old wire.  It took me most of the morning.  Wrapping back on their new (higher) wire was a lot easier.

Strawberry Fertilizer

The strawberries have been really producing, so I thought they might like a little fertilizer.  I side dressed with Black Gold organic fertilizer.

Tomatoes!!

There's a pretty good chance of rain tonight and tomorrow, plus cooler weather, so I decided to pick all the ripe tomatoes and can them tomorrow.  I got 9 lbs. 5 ozs.  The 'Amish Paste' had only a couple ripe ones, but they are a lot bigger than the others.  There are still plenty coming on all of the plants.

Notes for Next Year

No more melons!  They take up too much space and come all at once. 

Only 6-8 pole bean plants.  Really!!  Also, plant all the bush beans at once, when the pole beans go in. 

Plant just two aubergines.  One globe, one Asian.

Plant more peppers.

Plant basil in the beds, rather than in pots.

Don't bother with planting beets in the spring.  They get lost among all the other summer vegetables.  Plant them in late summer and fall.  Also, plant only 'Cylindra.'  They're much easier to can.

Update:  Actually I will plant melons again, just not so many.  I failed to follow my own advice about only two aubergines.  Too many peppers.  Probably six would suffice.  And forget all the colored ones.  The beet advice is sound, although I still planted some in spring.  

More Melons

Yesterday I picked another Ambrosia melon.  We had it for breakfast this morning, and it was incredibly good.  The honeydews continue to split.  I found two more this morning.  There are quite a few still coming.  I think I'll remove the black plastic from the bed.  It may be contributing to the problem by holding puddles of water.