What's Happening In the Patio Garden? End of July Update

There have been some changes in the garden since last month. That's one thing that keeps fueling my passion for growing things. As someone with attention deficit disorder tendencies, the always-changing personality of a garden provides constant adventure.

I had to pull up my potted zucchini and crookneck squash plants. Even 16 inch pots are evidently not large enough for these varieties. They had beautiful blooms but I was only able to harvest two smallish zucchinis and no matter how much I watered, they always looked droopy...an indication of being root bound. Thus far I have tried them in these large pots and also in a topsy-turvy last year, so I have finally concluded that they just can't be grown on my patio, unless I want to devote a large amount of space to them and limit my other plantings.

The good news is that all of the tomatoes continue to do well, even if a few of the larger varieties are slowing down. Some of this is due to the excessive amount of rain and chilly nights we had and then it turned off hot and dry. They may snap back out of it within the next week or so, if not, I'll have a few tomato plants to pull up as well. The cherry-type tomatoes are prolific though. I've harvested a couple of Chinese snake cucumbers and my spicy Santa Fe Grande peppers are doing very well. The Christmas lima beans will soon be ready, and a few of my green bell and yellow bell peppers are loaded with smaller than average fruit. I always anticipate smaller fruit due to the potting method I have to use. 

I've restarted more chard, greens, cauliflower and soon kale. and I've been starting new herbs from clippings that I hope to sell locally. What follows are a few pictures of the harvest, but it includes produce picked from the garden I have at my friend's home too.

The first spaghetti squash, along with white cherry, small cherry, red pear, roma,
rutger, Cherokee purple, chocolate cherry and brandywine tomatoes.

I've been picking many tomatoes early due to rabbits at my friend's garden,
so this scene has become common in our dining room window