Begininng to harvest

WOW! My garden is growing out of control! Next year I need to put more space between the hill for squash, pumpkins, cucumbers, watermelon and zucchini because that area is a giant section with plants criss-crossing each other. I put the hills so the centers were 4 ft apart. Next year I need to try 4 or more ft of flat ground between the hill I think. Cucumbers are growing and a few are only a day or so away from picking. I couldn’t even see them, buried under all the leaves. I have 1 tomato that is almost ripe. The romas are about 1-2" long at this point. Jalapenos just keep producing and I keep picking! Onions continue to grow. Green beans have formed and I’m waiting for them to plump out a bit. Today’s hand watering should help. Though we had an 80% chance of storms yesterday, we got almost no rain at all. We haven’t had rain in awhile, so this morning’s soaking was needed. The corn is about 4’ high and the tassles are now formed! I hope our corn is good! That’s the 1 vegetable the whole family will eat! Had friends over this weekend and we enjoyed salad with my fresh lettuce. She commented on how good the lettuce tasted-I was proud!

I have TONS of wild blackberries this year! Last year they were just thorny canes. Last night I picked about 4 cups of the frist ripe ones. The boys want me to make some blackberry crisp today. I think I will try to do that! Some places have huge plump berries while others have smaller berries. I wonder if they are different varieties or if the locations make a difference. The ones on the hill tend to be smaller than those down the hill on the edge of the woods. The berries are at various stages-some still small and white, some pink to red, others black; therefore I should have a long picking season.