A tour through the early July garden

Welcome to a tour of my early July garden. It's been dry and hot, but so far, the plants and the gardener are surviving.

Last night Jim and I made a trellis of sticks and strings for the kidney and pinto bean plants. The package said they were bush beans. When they started putting out runners, I knew someone had gotten confused.

We picked our first ripe tomato on Sunday. This is one of our favorite heirloom varieties--Oxheart.

Jim set the racoon trap a couple of nights ago after I noticed some downed corn stalks. The ears aren't ready yet but perhaps the varmints are extra hungry this year. So far, they've evaded us although this trap and bate (a Honey Bunn) have worked in years past. Next to the corn are hot peppers, beets (I roasted some of those yesterday) and squash. We have four types of sqush in the garden, divided by rows so they won't cross fertilizer and come out with a vegetable we don't recognize. It has happened to me before!

Growing pumpkin.

Growing butternut squash.

This year I have zinnias, marigolds and geranimums planted in the garden to help ward off bugs. The nasturtiums haven't really surfaced and I miss their pretty flowers.

The Swiss chard will continue producing until frost. I love that crop. In the background is lettuce that is developing seed; I'm hoping to collect more seeds this year.

On the side of our house we turned a fertile patch of soil that previously housed a tall fir tree (downed by an ice storm) into another garden. It has tomatoes, bell peppers and basil.

If you have a favorite plant in your garden this year, comment with a photo so we can all share with you!