Well, I've probably bored people with my garden thread in Rural Living, but I'll post a few pictures here just to keep the reputation of Texas braggers.
My garden is doing really well except for some virus problems with my squash. It's still making lots of squash, but the yellow squash is mottled with green on its skin. I've found that is caused by a virus which will eventually cause the stems to become woody and the squash plant wilt and die. In the meantime, there is nothing wrong with the fruit and it is completely edible. It just has a few green stripes on it. The virus cannot be reversed, so I'll just keep the squash well watered and producing as long as I can. For now, its feeding us and several of our neighbors.
My cucumbers are going great with no bugs or problems. I have a wild beehive in a tree near my garden, and the cucumbers and cantaloupes are just buzzing with bees. I counted 45 large cantaloupes on 5 hills and we are picking two gallons of cucumbers every other day from 8 plants. We have four regular cucumbers and four "burpless" kind with slick skins.
My okra has been making 1/2 gallon every other day, but is now going into high gear with production. I treated the plants with Sevin to kill aphids. It wias like setting the plants to turbo mode. They are sprouting, blooming, and shooting up okra pods everywhere. When I pick today, I'll probably get a gallon from my four 20' rows.
My tomatoes have finally kicked into high gear. The Early Girl tomatoes are producing 2 or 3 ripe fruit on each plant every other day. The cherry tomatoes and Better Boys are also producing fruit, but the Early Girls win the production prize.
My Basil, thyme, parsley, and sage plants are all doing well. My cilantro is starting to go to seed and will soon become coriander as the plants make seed. I need to pick fresh leaves off the plants and make up a few jars of pico de gallo right away. Cilantro/coriander is a short-lived herb that matures very quickly and dies. I have normal leaf basil and globe basil as shown in the pictures below. Just brushing by it in the garden sends out a cloud of fresh basil fragrance. We are picking, drying, and storing it for later use, but the fresh leaves are delicious to chop and sprinkle over sauces and fresh vegetables.
Oh yes, I have banana, chili, and bell peppers going into high gear production. The banana peppers are covered with 4" to 6" peppers.
We had a shower of rain (0.8") yesterday morning. I was not able to get into the garden to pick anything. Today I'll have a big harvest for sure.
My pictures are below. So far, no real damage from deer or raccoons. . . knock on wood.
Lloyd, your garden looks great, but I'm not sure what the plants are in the foreground. You may have said, but I don't remember. I envy you the fence. I have no protection if something hungry comes along in the middle of the night.
