Garden 2026
Update 5
The garden seems to be holding its own. It has been a roller coaster ride with drought and then days of heavy downpours. I am still fighting the fungus, leaf miner larvae and powdery mildew. But even with all that, I am still harvesting lots of veggies. Here is how things look now:
The Big Boy tomatoes seem to be hardest hit with the fungus. So far, I
The cantaloupe vines are suffering with a powdery mildew but there
are at least 5 cantaloupes growing (circled in red on photo - top right). There were 7 but 2 of them rotted - not sure why. Could be due to the massive amount of rain we had over the last few days.
The cherry tomatoes have gone wild! They have also suffered with the fungus, but it has not slowed them down at all. As of June 23rd, I have picked 489!
The banana peppers are doing well - picking several every week.
The beets are having a problem with aphids. I cut off all the damaged leaves (which was most of them) - new leaves grew and then the aphids attacked again. Not sure if I will get any beets.
The zucchini plants got so big and heavy it was hard to contain. I did get 16 zucchinis and they were tasty! I planted more seeds to see if I can get another round.
The corn gave us 6 ears and we gave them to the chickens. They were the bicolor corn and not fully covered with kernels but the chickens didn't care. The photo shows 4 remaining stalks with high hopes of more corn . . .
The bell peppers are going great and I have enjoyed making stuffed peppers with them.
The radish did not do so well the first go round - picked only 6. I planted more seeds . . .
The cucumbers are growing all over the place! Funny thing, they are weird shaped cucumbers. Seems like they curl and don't fully grow all the way to the end. But they taste good and make good relish!
The eggplants are doing well even though their leaves don't show it. Something is eating the leaves but I haven't found the culprit. I suspect aphids but I have not seen any on the leaves. It hasn't stopped the plant from producing though. I have already made a couple of trays of eggplant parmigiana and I have more eggplants in the fridge to make more.
The green beans are having an issue with the leaf miner larvae, but the plants are growing like crazy. I am picking green beans almost every day - just a couple but it adds up!
The onions are hanging in there! It really isn't the right season for them - I am hoping they will hang in until the fall. Time will tell . . .
The pumpkin plants are fighting the powdery mildew and leaf miner larvae. I had a nice pumpkin growing and then one day it was flat and rotten. Broke my heart.
Watermelon! The vines have the powdery mildew and leaf miner larvae but it hasn't slowed it down at all. We only have one watermelon growing but it is a beauty! I put a rack under it to keep it off the ground.
I started the garden on March 20th and this update is as of June 23rd. I am not disappointed at all! We still have more time in our growing season, and I am excited to see what is in store! Here is the whole picture (the tarp in the back is just a storage area):
