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! 

Raspberries and New Fall Buds!

My heritage red raspberries are finally starting to ripen! I'm getting a couple of berries every morning. However, they don't make it inside to the kitchen! I tend to eat them first!  

I've also had a few berries eaten by birds, a problem I haven't had with my blackberries. 

What caught my attention this morning was the beautiful red berries but also the new buds on first year canes! Raspberries will usually produce a small crop of fruit in the fall on first year canes. However, I'm surprise the buds have developed so wary, especially since I'm still harvesting the spring crop. So cool! 

New Blueberry Canes!

This year has been a little disappointing for my blueberry plants. I think it's mostly due to the fact that I hadn't trimmed the plants at all since I bought them a few years ago. However, it looks like the trimming I did this year is going to benefit me next year and years to come. 

On my oldest blueberry plant, I noticed new canes growing out of the soil. New canes will produce more blueberries. 

This is why trimming blueberries canes are a very important tip for growing blueberries. 

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.