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It’s been unseasonably cool this past week here in Central Missouri. Couple sprinkles of rain but not enough to stop the watering.

I dug up three of the Yukon Gold spud plants yesterday and oh my goodness was I ever surprised - got close to ten pounds of really nice taters. These rarely get bigger than a baseball in my garden but this time they turned out some whoppers. If the rest of them yield similarly I’m going to be set for taters for a good while.

I noticed yesterday I’ve got slicing tomatoes almost ready to pick. Mrs. Augie picked a few cucumbers yesterday. Spaghetti squash are loaded with little 3” squashes. Cantaloupes are vining and starting to set fruit. Filled a two gallon bucket yesterday with the thinnings from one carrot bed. Sweet bell pepper plants are loaded with fruit. There’s one broccoli that’s going to get picked tomorrow morning and eaten for lunch not long after.

I’ve been having trouble with the watering bags on the chestnut trees not wanting to stay standing so yesterday I added another 5’ fiberglass tree stake to each grow tube. Hopefully that will be adequate support to prevent them tipping over and injuring the trees. Several of them are peeking out the top of the tube so it’s probably time to build proper cages for them. If I don’t cage them the dang deer will eat every leaf that they can reach.

But we’ve got a family reunion in town today that’s going to keep me from getting much done in the garden. I’ve got three slabs of baby back ribs cooking in the smoker now for my contribution to the pot luck, and Mrs. Augie is making another rhubarb/blackberry pie to share. Should be a good time seeing the weirdo side of the family. lol

Augie;

Potatoes, Good deal! Yukon gold is a good potato.

I Don't have much room so I grew potatoes in bags and buckets this year I need to see what I have in the ones whose foliage is dying back! (I tried "from seed" ...Clancy, and German Butterball seed potatoes and some unknown red potato from the store that started to root out.)

I had a lot of green tomatoes. As soon as we dropped back below 85 F (unseasonably cool!) they started produce lutein and began to color up and ripen. While it is "summer cool" I am also going around to the tomatoes and hand pollinating...shaking and brushing flowers and hoping they set fruit higher up on the plant before the real heat sets in. (Most of the crop is lower

Picture today of some of the harvested tomatoes: (Already ate the Black Krim and Annanas Noire!)

Chef's Choice Orange (center) Thorburns Terra Cotta (bottom five) Jaune Flame (upper left) and red tomatoes "42" (upper right)

The Annanas Noire ( Black Pineapple...no black that I can see and not pictured above) had an actual sugar taste. It was very low acid. (at least the ones grown in my garden!) A recommendation for future fresh eating tomato!

The Tomato "42" is a determinate early tomato that is already about finished for the year. Not a spectacular tomato, but definitely early. I will probably pick the remaining tomatoes and let them ripen inside. I have a volunteer tomato growing where I grew some Picus tomatoes last year and will move it to that spot next to the heat tolerant Homestead tomatoes.

Sorry about your cabbage and the loopers! (Caitlin?) Wonder if they could be grown under cover? Something like this might not be too expensive. (It might not be too late for a fall cabbage crop?)

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09TDM1Z81?tag=bravesoftwa04-20&linkCode=osi&th=1&language=en_US

I have this type of covering, but this is pre cut and will work well on my rows . (Cucumbers...beit alpha type that do not need to be uncovered for insects to pollinate them to set fruit!)

Have a great day at your reunion!