Garden Update

For those vegetable gardeners who want to do some comparing, here is how my garden is doing as of July 8.  As per usual, some vegetables are doing well, some so-so and a few vegetables are down right miserable, struggling to stay alive.  In our neck of the woods it’s difficult to blame the weather, beyond the slow, cool, spring.  We've had ample rain, and the last couple of weeks have provided warm, sunny days.  Great growing weather.  Here’s the rundown:

Pumpkins—Doing well, just beginning to vine.

Early sweet corn—hip high, good color, lots of promise.

Spinach—failure.  Germination poor and that which did grow is sad, sad.

Radishes—best crop in years.  No worms, sweet, well-shaped.

Carrots—doing well now that radishes are harvested (I plant carrots and

            radishes together.)

Peas—looking good.  Pods developing. Harvest this coming weekend?

Early potatoes—very average.  Don’t know why they aren't better.

Onions—excellent.  We've harvested some and they are great.

Leaf lettuce—doing well.  We've already had several cuttings.

Beets—coming right along.  Probably need a little thinning.

Late potatoes—best crop in several years.  Vines are thick, knee high, covering the

rows.

Tomatoes—almost all varieties in some stage of flowering.  A few plants with    little green tomatoes.  Thinking of how good they will taste when they ripen.

Cabbage—excellent.  Best in several years. 

Green Beans—merely okay.  Germination could have been better.  Not enough

 plants.

Green peppers—awful.  Plants look like they will die any day now.  Don’t have a clue what is bothering them.

Zucchini—Coming along just fine.  A few blossoms.  Look out.

Cucumbers—Beginning to vine.  Thriving.

Winter squash—Same as the cucumbers.

Late sweet corn—mostly knee high, some shorter, some taller.

Gourds—who can’t grow gourds?

Sunflowers—about four feet tall and growing like everything.

Three Sisters Garden—Full report later.  But so far doing much better than my

 attempt a couple years ago.

THE OLD TIMER SAYS:   When you garden, you are never short of surprises.

UPCOMING EVENTS:

July 13-20.  Writing Retreat, Rhinelander.

August 3-4. Kansas City, Missouri Public TV. A Farm Story.

August 6-7, Nebraska Public TV, Lincoln, Nebraska.  A Farm Story.

 FOR THOSE INTERESTED IN PURCHASING “JERRY APPS: A FARM STORY” DVD

DVD Jerry Apps: A Farm Story List $16.95 The Patterson’s price only $15.00 ($20.00 shipped)
Special Bundle Offer exclusively by the Patterson:
Tamarack River Ghost & Jerry Apps: A Farm Story – List $43.90
The Patterson’s Price Only $35.00 ($43.00 shipped)

Patterson Memorial Library
500 Division St. PO Box 305
Wild Rose, WI 54984

(All items are sold by the Friends of the Patterson Memorial Library. They will accept checks or cash, they’re sorry but they don’t have any way to accept credit or debit cards, checks should be made out to the Friends of Patterson Memorial Library.