Picking Broccoli Heads and Large Kale Leaves

For the past couple of weeks I have been picking some very large kale leaves that have been growing from most of my plants.  Today was just the third time that I had picked some leaves.  Only twelve leaves were harvested, but I am more happy about their size rather than amounts. 

I have just started picking broccoli which started a couple of days ago with the first head to be harvested.  I have not used it yet, but I am thinking about using them to make some broccoli and cheese soup.  I only eat broccoli in cheese soup or if there is cheese on it.  Yesterday I did pick a couple more heads and today I decided on cutting a few of the broccoli side shoots which look ready to eat.

Here is the first broccoli head that I picked earlier in the week.

I picked these broccoli heads yesterday.

Here are just a few of the side shoots that I picked this afternoon.

Largest Bean Harvest Along With Ripe Cantaloupes

I had some cantaloupes that were growing in the garden that I thought were perfect for harvesting because of their ripe color.  Most of the time melons are very simple to know when they are ripe.  All I do is wait for the stem to start peeling from the plant or just completely fall off.  Either method works and that is how I determine all melons when they are done growing.

This year I have already picked six of them.  Two came earlier in the week and maybe last weekend at the earliest while just a day ago I picked four more.  They sometimes need to be left out to get somewhat soft.  Once that happens I place them in the refrigerator to prevent them from going bad quickly.  The hotter and humid is can increase the rate of decay.

I had some beans to pick this week and I wanted to pick them around wednesday to thursday, but I had to plant my fall crop during these days.  I picked them yesterday and this was the largest crop so far with a weight of 20 lbs.  I think this will be the largest harvest of the year.  From now on the crops of beans will be getting smaller.

As I mentioned above I planted my broccoli and cabbage into the garden which needed to be done as soon as possible.  There was going to be some rain which they could really benefit from if they were in the ground. 

Just one pepper and three more cucumbers were also picked this week along with all the above.  I will be picking some corn soon as well and I probably should have been picking them this entire week or at least some of them.  Hopefully they are not overripe and are still tender enough to be eaten.  I have been a little late this year in picking corn.

A large pepper this week.

The Cucumber Season has Begun

I wasn't sure if I was going to pick a cucumber today, because it didn't look like it was ready this past weekend.  I though it would need a couple more days, but I guess with all the hot and sunny weather it was able to quickly grow to its fullest size.  I took a look at it today and I just wanted to pick it immediately.  I can't wait to cut into it and have a taste of this delicious cucumber. 

Many more are coming and it is just a matter of time before I have too many.  This is what I am hoping for this season.  Last season was not the best and I am looking to make up from last year with a large amount of cucumbers in 2015.  I have plenty of plants that can do it I just need to make sure that they are getting all the nutrients they need to continue growing and producing cucumbers.

I am glad with the size of the cucumber especially for the first harvest.  I saw another one that looked like it was ready for picking.  I will probably pick that one in a couple of days of good weather.  Today it has been raining off and on.  I still was able to get some work done including adding mulch to my beans, corn, and harvesting cucumbers.

On the other hand my fall plants are growing good for now and I made sure to thin them out this year to avoid having multiple plants in one spot.  This would be a problem especially when growing them in plastic cups.  One was left to each pot.  Since I love broccoli more than most people I want to make sure that I get plenty that I can use over the Winter and decided to grow ten more pots.  Now I can potentially have twenty broccoli plants for the fall season.  Hopefully all the seeds will grow very quickly.

Time for More Harvesting and Beginning to Plant a Fall Crop

This year I decided to grow another fall crop and I wasn't sure exactly what I was going to be planting besides broccoli and cabbage.  I was hoping to get some kale seeds, but unfortunately I was unable to obtain them and now I am going to just be focusing on broccoli and cabbage.  Since I have one less plant to worry about I decided on planting exactly ten seeds of cabbage and ten of broccoli.

This does not mean that I only placed one seed into each of the ten containers, but I am using ten containers for each of my fall plants.  I probably placed about four or five seeds into each container making certain that at least one of those seeds will germinate in each cup.  I used a mixture of topsoil and some worm compost that I have been saving to use for this time of the season.  I love using this mixture because it produces vibrant and healthy plants that can last quite awhile in these containers.

They will be staying outside for the rest of the season instead of growing them inside.  It is better for them to be outside in order to adjust to the temperatures immediately and won't have to worry about hardening them off.  They also will get much more sun by being outside as well which is the main reason why I keep them out there.

I have also been harvesting today even though I was planting my fall crop.  For now zucchinis are the most popular in the garden and they are growing really fast.  I started feeding the plants today because a few of them needed to be replenished with nutrients that they require in order to continue producing vegetables that I can pick later on.  This also helps them produce flowers which are much more important in the long run.

I have pumpkins growing on the vines as well which I am looking forward to picking which will not come at any time soon.

Four is the count right now and I think there might be another one somewhere in there which I will have to look for tomorrow.

Cucumbers are also on the rise today and I saw the first one of the season fully pollinated.

It's not quite ready and probably another week or so it should be approaching the point where I can begin harvesting it.  Only time will tell.