The Family Plot Square Foot Garden

We have Onions

7/22/2022

It has been several weeks since I last posted about the garden. Nothing realy has been going on other than the plants growing. But now we have some updates.

The Onions are Pulled and Curing

We have pulled the onions. The tops died back most of the way so it was time for them to come out. We got 17 onions out of the 18 we planted. Pretty good. We laid them out to dry and cure on the cement pad that is under the big satellite dish. It stays shaded most of the day. In a few more days they will be ready to clean and use or store. Most of the bulbs have the narrow neck that is good for storage. If they have wide necks you should use them soon because they will rot first. As a side note, if you put nitrogen fertilizer on them after they start to bulb they will tend to get wide necks and won't store.

Other Harvesting

I pulled more carrots (11 carrots for 0.94 lbs.). Early next week the potatoes are going in the ground for a fall harvest. The rest of the carrots will come out then.

We have also picked another 16 full size and 16 cherry tomatoes for 3.42 lbs.

The Cucumbers are Up and Growing

The cucumbers are growing well. I need to build the trellis for them. The twine I used for the peas did not survive pulling up the peas. I may use another piece of cattle panel like I used for the tomatoes. It is strong and lets the cucumbers hang down so they are easy to find as they grow.

Whats up With Some of the Other Plants

The beans were a bust. I don't know exactly why. From the 54 plants we planted we got about 15 beans. Disappointing. The Japanese beetles have been enjoying them, but that should not have affected the beans that much.

The peppers have not set fruit yet. We have some flowers, but no fruit. We planted pepper plants from the same tray in the in-ground garden and they are producing just fine.

The eggplant is starting to flower so maybe we will have some soon.

The cantaloupe has a fruit on it that is getting close to ripe.

The watermelon is growing, but no fruit yet. I am mad at the landscapers. They have weed-eated the ends of the watermelon vines. Overall the landscapers have done more damage to out gardens this year than all other causes combined. Grrrr!