Vegetable Garden Update

Our backyard vegetable garden has been a great success this summer.  I cannot claim any horticulture genius; the prize goes to my mother-in-law and her years of attentive soil amending, and to a good husband who waters faithfully.

The fruits of our labors, thus far, have been:

• Spinach and Asian Mesclun salad mix (sprouted quickly and faded quickly)
• Swiss chard was a marginal success, I fought the leafminers and they won.  I did get one good harvest, though (pictured above)
• Snow peas, which produced into late July, to my great surprise
• Butterhead lettuce and Red Sails lettuce, which also exceeded my expectations by remaining bolt-free into early August 
• Basil and green onions.  I am clipping the greens on the latter as fast as they can grow up
• Yellow squash and yellow crookneck squash: one to two a week
• Zucchini squash: one a week
• Cucumbers: six a week, sometimes more
• Super cherry tomato: produced about 12-15 for several weeks through July, but is now dormant
• Heirloom Roma and Big Boy tomato plants are happy and productive, but we have yet to harvest a single red tomato.  Currently, we have easily 40 tomatoes, all quite green.
• Pumpkin (intentional, cultivated type): at least one (the size of a large grapefruit).  We also have a rogue pumpkin that plant itself.  It has made 30' feet of vine, and no fruit to speak of.
• Strawberries almost died twice, have made a recovery, and are fighting with the weeds to claim good ground.  Four of the six strawberry plants are healthy and have sent out runners.