July 2023 Overview & Welcoming August

Goodbye, July darling.

We say fare well to another month this year. Seems as if the months have raced past us in just a blink of an eye. Before long it will be the holidays again, it’s wild!

July was a very fruitful month, and weather wise – miserable. Many days I couldn’t even stay outside for more than 20 minutes. Even though this summer’s temps have been slightly cooler than last, the humidity makes it just the same.

Low 90’s, but with our humidity levels it makes the heat index go well above 100°F. We’re use to humid heat here in Tennessee, but anymore it’s become unbearable. Each summer seems to just get hotter and hotter.

The chickens are doing okay for now. We’ve also been putting ice cubes in their water to help out. The tree next to them casts shade, and the tarp on the other side as well. Still need to buy one more tarp to place in the middle of the pin though.

Overall, this summer is still as miserable as the last, just more rainfall (storms more than anything). The rain has helped keep the garden in better condition though, thankfully. So, I can’t complain too much.

There were days when it was unsafe to be outside as well, due to poor air quality. Smoke from wildfires had made its way to us, and boy did it mess me up. I have sinus issues anyways, and I had no clue the quality was as bad as it was at first, until I continuously felt sick.

Even taking the dogs outside to use the bathroom messed me up for the rest of the day. I feel so bad for the ones dealing with the wildfires and those closest to them. Stay safe out there!

I’m happy to say the garden this year has produced more than we’ve ever gotten, yay! Some things didn’t do so great, but others have thrived. The tomatoes, peppers and squash have been booming with abundance!

Our bigger varieties of tomatoes have been slow to ripen, and even when they do the bugs tend to get to them first. Definitely need to get some of those mesh baggies to protect the fruit next time. Such beautiful slicers wasted because of bugs devouring them first.

I have seen signs of hornworms, but haven’t actually found one yet. Plenty of chewed bits and droppings – just can’t find the buggers!

The cherry tomatoes have outdone themselves this year though. They’re so delicious too – primarily the gold nugget, sun globe and sunrise bumblebee varieties. They’re a lot sweeter than the tommy toes, which is common for yellow types.

I’ve harvested 30+ pounds worth so far, and have dehydrated most of them that we don’t eat fresh. That way we can always whip up some quick tomato sauce, paste, flavor rice, add to curries, etc.. The bigger ones I’ve cored and x’d the bottoms to freeze for later use.

We used some of the dried tomato powder in a curry yesterday and it was delicious. I will say though since it’s sweeter varieties of tomatoes I used, it doesn’t have that acidic taste. It would be amazing for a good marinara sauce though!

I may do an experiment next year and keep the less acidic ones separate from the others, and see how much of a taste difference there is when using in recipes. That way I can use them accordingly. They’re overall delicious though, 100%!

Aside from tomatoes, I’ve harvested more than 2 gallon bags worth of peppers so far in July. The shishitos have out performed everyone, and the purple beauties come in 2nd place. The jalapenos have produced a bunch within the last week of July as well.

The squash this year has done awesome, but unfortunately I think vine borers have finally snatched them. They’re still producing, but look a bit pitiful. I plan on sowing more to replace them, including more zucchini.

Beans have struggled since the beginning. We’ve only gotten a few handfuls in July out of all 30 plants. I don’t know what’s going on with them to be honest. A lot of the plants struggled back in May for some reason, but most have recovered.

I’ve sowed some more bush beans beside a couple of pepper plants last week and they’re doing great so far. Who knows! I’ll be sowing a second round of things for the fall garden though, so we’ll see how it goes. I went ahead and cut out the beans in the Greenstalk yesterday.

The okra has finally started to produce and is quickly picking up pace now. The last week of July I picked a handfuls worth of Alabama red and Jing orange. I’d love to have enough to preserve before cold weather sets in, but we’ll see. As far as tomatillos go, I’ve only picked a few unfortunately.

Besides talking about our harvests, the garden itself is an absolute jungle currently. Weeds have taken over due to all the rain we’ve had last month, and our tomatoes are just free ranging right now. It’s all producing though, and that’s what matters!

I do plan to knuckle down on weeding and trying to get some landscape fabric laid down in the walkways of the garden soon. Especially to prep for fall, there’s so much to do, and it’ll be here before we know it!

July has been fruitful and we’re grateful to have our fridge stocked with fresh, homegrown produce! It truly is such a wonderful feeling, one I can’t really describe fully if I’m honest. Even though it’s a lot of hard work and patience – it’s so worth it.

Hello again, August.

Welcoming a new month once again, full of new tasks and projects. Fall is quickly approaching and I couldn’t be happier. I love growing warm weather crops, but the heat and I don’t get along very well.

August greeted us with our very first cucumbers this year! I had sowed them late due to not having a bed for them yet. The bush variety is what fruited first, and I can’t wait to make pickles with them! I’ll probably sow more cukes for fall, just so we can try to get more preserved.

There’s a lot I’d like to get done this month, but will have to work in the early morning hours to avoid the heat. Late evening, around sunset might be okay too, on certain days I suppose. Prepping the garden for fall is at the top of the list.

I plan on growing a bunch of cool crops this year, and even attempting growing certain things through the winter using covers. We have a high tunnel we still need to assemble, which would be nice to have for that too.

I’m hoping to have the raised beds finally filled before fall. They’ll mainly be for root vegetables, especially longer ones like carrots and daikon radishes. We’ll also have to amend the current beds with some compost once things are ripped out.

Our second Leaf Greenstalk still needs assembled and filled, it’ll be for leafy greens and herbs. Backside of garden needs weeded and compost added to make another bed. Fencing the garden space in is also a big priority, due to rabbits and deer.

We have this one rabbit that will stroll through the garden most days (it has only munched on the swiss chard so far). We’ll get it figured out eventually though, even if it’s something simple.

There are lots of other things on our list to do, but aside from that I’ll be getting started on sowing seeds this week. I’ve ordered a bunch more seeds (like I actually need more lol), and some trays and inserts. It’s not the cell type inserts, but tray-like.

I want to try out Charles Dowding‘s method for sowing brassicas and other things. I’ll be sowing lots of cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, leafy greens, etc.. I still have some 4″ pots to sow more zucchini, squash and cucumbers in though.

Half of the seeds I bought are for the fall garden this year (with plenty to carry over into spring), and the other half is for next year (warm weather crops). I’m really excited to get all of this going! Growing some new foods this year, that we’ve never tried before, such as rutabagas, tatsoi, bok choy, Japanese mustards, kohlrabi, leeks, etc..

The plan is to grow enough for fresh eating throughout the fall and hopefully winter. Plus, preserving certain things such as beans, squash, cucumbers, etc.. until their next grow season. The anticipation!

🦋 How’s your garden doing this summer? As always, thank you for stopping by. 🦋