Garden Update

We've been so busy harvesting and shelling black-eyed peas (pink eye purple hulls, actually) picking tomatoes and okra, and watching the progress of the cantaloupes that I've not had time to update. Not to mention that work really hinders my computer time!

It's been hot, hot, HOT here in my neck of the woods for the past couple of weeks. We finally got about 1/4" of rain a couple of days ago. We're more than 5" behind in our rainfall for the year. I think it's going to take something big, like a hurricane to come ashore (unfortunately), to change the weather pattern. I'm so ready for cooler temps and rain and it's just the end of June! I'm usually not feeling this way until the middle to end of July.

The Contender bush beans gave up the ghost this past week. They were really starting to look stressed because of the temps, so on Wednesday, the husband and I harvested all the beans and then yanked out the plants.

We ended up with a mop bucket full of beans.
The partial harvest for the day of the beans.

Out of our bucket full of beans, we got 3 quart sized freezer bags full of cut green beans. I did blanch them for 3 mins in boiling water followed by 3 mins in a cold water bath before bagging and freezing.

The pink eye purple hull black eyed peas are going crazy! They are so loaded with pods it's not even funny. For the past week, we've been harvesting pods, shelling them, and then putting them in a freezer bag in the freezer. I'm cooking them TONIGHT!

Bloom and the first pods.
Green pods
Ripe pods (purple hulls)
Fresh shelled. See the pink eyes?

We have 2 mounds of cantaloupes. The first mound has already set 3 fruits. The largest fruit has started to develop its webbing, so it should be ripe and ready soon.

Still a bit on the green side, but you can see the webbing starting to form on the skin. Soon....

The second mound of cantaloupes is in an area that receives more shade than the first mound. Those plants have finally started running and sending out both male and female flowers. I saw a couple of potential melons this morning that look like they've been pollinated. Here's one of the potentials on my watch list.



Lastly, the watermelon patch is really filling in. I think there's some kind of fungus among us, so I'm researching that and trying to figure out what it is and how to treat it.

The watermelon patch before straw was put down.

First potential watermelon. It's teeny tiny, but located just to the right of the black edging between the two leaves.

That's it for today. Next time, I'll show off my cucumbers!