Veggie status

Here's a quick update on the garden. Squash vine borers have just about decimated the zucchinis but I'm not too sad. We got a bunch of fruits off them and haven't eaten many of them - maybe tonight we'll grill some up. Here's a shot of them (and some peppers) in their prime:

We're actually thinking about pulling up the zukes just to clear out the dead foliage. I'm doubtful that we'll plant those next year.

Peppers seem to be doing pretty well - they're putting on tons of fruits but so far non have gotten very big or very meaty, though I remember from last year that the biggest peppers came after the initial fruiting.

Tomatoes seem to be struggling a bit this year. Several plants have just up and died while others look pretty weak and have a lot of yellow foliage. Our romas and beefsteaks appear to be doing the best. Both have several fruits on each plant. The wacky heirloom varieties are a mixed bag - some have already given up the ghost and some seem poised for a decent showing. We planted these later than our other tomatoes, so it may take them a while to catch up. We had the top of a tree come down onto a few of our plants - did a fair amount of damage but I think they should rebound.

So far our cukes are the stars of this year's garden. We have about 7-8 pounds of kirbys picked and cleaned. Now we just need to find a good dill pickle recipe and we'll be set to pickle. Our non-pickling cukes are doing well too - there'll probably be 3 or 4 more of those to pick today. Those things sure are pokey - lots of little spines all over them and the plants too. I'm always very itchy after picking them.

Beans are doing so-so. It's kinda tough to keep up with the yard longs - those things grow fast and once they get too big they get kind of mushy and not very tasty.

Looks like our first-year melon patch is going to produce. We've got several small watermelon fruits forming. I'm hopeful that our cantaloupes won't be far behind. Squash vine borers have gotten to our pumpkins, though haven't caused as much damage (yet?) as they have to the zukes, so maybe there's hope.

The blueberry plants set a lot of berries this year and a few are just starting to ripen; however, Mr. O eats them faster than we can pick them, so I'm not sure we're ever going to get enough at one time to do much with them. Here he is caught in the act and looking sheepish.

I'll close this post with a shot of Scout doing some backyard breakdancing. I snapped this right in the middle of his windmill. Yo, Scout - where's your cardboard?