White Wonder Cucumber Growing!

Finally, my white wonder cucumbers are growing. I've been delayed this year with my cucumbers for a number of reasons. First, I started these plants from seed and I ended up planting them a little later than I normally would. Then the turnip plants I had planted in the spring had blocked the sun to the young seedlings, delaying their growth even more. 

However, now that I have removed the turnip greens and we've experienced some warmer weather, the cucumbers are taking off! 

The plants are starting to grow up my nice trellis that held my Boston pickling cucumbers last year. And this morning I noticed a few baby white wonder cucumbers growing! I'm super excited! How cool is a white cucumber! Hopefully, a lot more our on their way! 

First Cherry Tomatoes of the Season!

It almost feels like Christmas in July! I finally have been able to pick some ripe cherry tomatoes! These small, yet beautiful orange spheres are from my Sun Sugar tomato plants. I was able to pick two ripe tomatoes from both of my plants this morning and there are plenty more to come in the next few weeks! 

Cherry tomatoes have always done really well in my garden. Usually, I grow the Husky Red Cherry Tomato and end up with a constant flow of cherry tomatoes from mid-July through September. Although I'm not growing them this year, I am growing three cherry tomatoes plants, which will hopefully give me even more tomatoes! 

We have also finally gotten some summer heat here in the northeast, so I'm hoping this will give my cherry tomato plants some added boost. I've been waiting to eat fresh cherry tomatoes for months! I'm glad it's finally that time of year! 

Sun Gold Cherry Tomato on the vine. 

Small morning harvest of raspberries and cherry tomatoes. 

Backyard Raspberries are the Best!

For about the last week or so, I have been lucky enough to pick a handful a raspberries almost every day from my backyard. The berries couldn't be more delicious! Most days, I end up eating most of the berries before I even get them back to the house! 

I'm loving every berry I've grown but was hoping for a lot more this summer. I think I may have to expand my raspberry patch! Below is what I picked on the  morning of July 20, 2015. What's even cooler is the third picture below, which is a photograph of the new raspberry flowers blooming! These flowers are on the new canes that have started to grow this year. They'll produce a small crop this fall and then a larger crop next spring. Besides the obvious benefits of having the berries in the fall as well, I'm happy to see the flowers because it means my plants are doing well! 

Part of me would love to start my own berry farm one day, or at leas have enough land to grow a year supply of berries! That would be delicious! 

A handful of raspberries, out in my garden. 

Delicious, ripe red heritage raspberries ready to be picked. 

First year raspberry canes flowering for fall crop. 

My Beautiful Mint Plant

Mint is an awesome and easy herb to grow but it can also take over your garden! This is why I plant my mint in containers. It keeps it contained and easy to get too. 

Usually my mint will come back every year, even in the container. However, with really cold and snowy winters lately, some of my mint has been killed off. However, this year my spearmint did come back! Although it took its sweet time coming back, I didn't see new growth on it till late May. By that time I had planted a peppermint plant in the same pot. 

Now they're growing together in the same pot and it's actually working out pretty well. Not to mention it makes for some nice green foliage in the garden. 

I've used the mint to flavor my water recently and to chew on some leaves to help with indigestion. 

I could also try drying some and saving it for peppermint tea in the winter! 

Cherry Tomatoes After a Rainstorm

My cherry tomatoes have taken off! They are huge, spreading out and growing to at least six feet tall. They're taller than me!  

There are a bunch of green cherry tomatoes on my plants but they haven't ripen yet. I need some sunny days for that to happen, it's been rainy and cloudy  lately. 

However, the rain made for some cool pictures this morning. 

Beautiful, Bountiful Berries!

Growing your own fruit is pretty easy, especially when it comes to growing berries! I'm growing blueberries, raspberries and blackberries. I have three varieties of blueberry plants in containers, two varieties of raspberries and one blackberry plant. I wish I had more space for more plants! 

At this point in the season, the berries are all starting to grow. With the growth of the berries also comes the growth of my excitement for their harvest! Homegrown berries are the best tasting berries! 

Below are some of the berries growing in my garden as of mid June.  

The first photo is of a blackberry! 

The second photo is of a developing cluster of fall gold raspberries. 

The final photo is of a cluster of blueberries. These are pretty much done growing, just need to turn blue now! 

Garden Filling In! 5-18-15

Finally, after 23 days with no measurable rain here in Connecticut, we got about .33 inches of rain on Saturday morning. Not a lot but enough to give my garden a boost. Add in some sunshine and warm temps on Sunday and my garden is starting to fill in nicely! 

I love the way my garden looks! 

Radishes all lined up! 

Turnip getting bigger! 

Kale is getting big!!! 

The vegetable garden isn't the only area doing well. My blackberry plant is taking off as well! 

Even the flower buds are forming, which will eventually turn into delicious blackberries!