Tomatoes, etc started

Yesterday I started a whole bunch of tomatoes - Early Girl, Mortgage Lifter, Roma, Rutgers, Sweet 100, Green Doctor's Frosted Cherry, and Juliet. I started them in smaller cells than I have in the past so they'll all fit in one black seed tray and I'll transplant them as needed. I also started petunias - Celebrity Blue, Celebrity White, and Celebrity Red. Also started chamomile and marigolds. I'm trying Cathy's suggestion and starting the flowers in smaller containers with lots of seeds as she did with her marigolds last year. I'll separate and transplant them as needed. (The plastic part from the boxes of Girl Scout Tagalongs made great trays for the petunias!)

Some of the seeds I planted already are starting to sprout. I'll need to get the new shelf put together in the office soon so I can move the sprouted seeds under the shop lights.

Bell Peppers are sprouting

Sweet Marjoram sprouting

Most of the basil, thyme, cauliflower, broccoli, and marjoram have sprouted

Lots of growth

Strawberries in the new pyramid planter

Oregano is going crazy

Marigolds & radishes

Cauliflower

Carrots

Tulips in the front flower bed

Tulips

Squash & herbs

Harvesting and canning

I harvested another pumpkin and set it out to cure.  The biggest pumpkin is almost ready to harvest but not quite yet. It's supposed to be warm & sunny this weekend (temps in the 80s) so it should help ripen that one.  There were more wax beans and lima beans to harvest so I picked those as well as a bunch of arugula.  The sunflower is developing nicely. 

I blanched, peeled and canned 3 quarts of tomatoes.  Kaitlyn helped me put the lemon juice & tomatoes into the jars - her first canning experience.  She also helped by spinning the salad spinner after I washed the arugula and she helped me shell the lima beans.  I froze a quart of wax beans and some lima beans.

another harvested pumpkin

lima beans

wax beans & lima beans harvested

big pumpkin almost ready

sunflower

lima beans in the shell

More harvesting and progress report

broccoli

parsley

tomato & pepper harvest

The sunflower is blooming!

pumpkin

Lots of harvesting today

tomato harvest

cucumber blossoms

sunflower

broccoli

sage

Funny looking carrot

buttercup squash

Freezing carrots

Harvest and pumpkin issue

I harvested more tomatoes and some carrots today.  Hopefully the pumpkins will be ok.  Many of the leaves have developed what I think is powdery mildew.  The pumpkins themselves look ok but the leaves have a powder on them.

Carrots

Pumpkin plants

Fall garden progress

The one sunflower that sprouted

Parsley between tomato plants

Lots of blossoms on the cucumbers

One of the new rhubarb plants

Purple petunias

A pumpkin almost ready

Labor Day

We just got back from a relaxing weekend with the family in Northern Minnesota.  Kaitlyn and I went out to the garden to check on everything and ended up harvesting our first two buttercup squash, two broccoli plants, some large banana peppers, some arugula, and a whole big bowlful of tomatoes.  One of the smaller pumpkins is almost completely orange, one of the larger pumpkins is about half orange, and the biggest pumpkin is starting to turn orange.  While we were harvesting the tomatoes Jayne came out and commented on how healthy the largest pumpkin looks.  There are more wax beans ready to harvest but I was too sore after harvesting the rest to pick them.  I'll go out after I pick Kaitlyn up from school tomorrow to pick those.

This hosta has pretty purple flowers

Kaitlyn harvested our 1st buttercup squash

Lots of ripe tomatoes

Banana peppers

This pumpkin is almost all orange

Our biggest pumpkin starting to turn orange

Rosemary

Thyme

Harvesting before the long weekend

Kaitlyn helped me harvest a bunch of tomatoes, wax beans and jalapeno peppers before we go up North for Labor Day weekend.  The broccoli is ready to harvest too but I'll wait until we get back to harvest that.  I think a couple of the buttercup squash are ready - I'll check those when we get back too.

Kaitlyn with one of the ripe tomatoes

One of the tomato plants

This pumpkin plant is taking over the garden

Broccoli

Wax beans

Green pepper