Late July to Early August Garden harvests (melons, gourds, corn)

This week we harvested many cucumbers, peppers, tomatoes, and some squash, zucchini, gourds, and cantaloupe. 

July 24th garden harvest

July 21st garden harvest

July 25th garden harvest

Non-GMO corn (Trucker's favorite & Bantham)

July 31st cantaloupe & cucumber harvest

cantaloupe garden harvest

cantaloupe garden harvest...very sweet

Rain for weeks grows BIG mushrooms & how to forage/identify Chanterelle mushrooms

I feel very fortunate to be in part of the US that is receiving ample rainfall. In parts of the country, such as California, are experiencing drought for months. On June 1st,  urban water users in California, had to abide by the state's first ever mandatory water restrictions, by reducing consumption to 25 percent. 
Even farmers found it more beneficial to start selling their water reserves instead of growing food! 
Much of the food that is sold in the grocery store comes from California, and this could really hurt our country's food supply. This is just another reason we, the people, should take food into our own hands--strive to make the home garden the primary food source, forage wild edibles, and spread the seeds of fruit around the world. 


Of course the persistent rainfall, here in Kentucky, is assisting in the growth of the squashes and melons. Below are photos of recent garden harvests, including recent photos of the growth of birdhouse gourds, squashes, and melons.

7/6/2015 garden harvest

This rainfall has also prompted the growth of many mushroom varieties, such as boletes and chanterelles. We harvested chanterelles today from the woods in two different locations, along with a gallon of blackberries. 

This mushroom, seen below, was incredibly impressive for its size. It was definitely a bolete, but we were unsure of the variety. We concluded that it was the Bitter bolete, which is classified as poisonous. 

Chanterelle mushrooms are quite distinctive, even compared to their look-alike, the Jack-o lantern and false chanterelle. For example, chanterelle mushrooms grow individually spread out over a large patch of ground, whereas jack-o lanterns grow clustered. Chanterelles smell pleasantly fragrant like apricots, as many have suggested. The cap is convex and usually vase shaped. The gills are referred to as false gills because they appear to have lumpy folds instead of true gills. Chanterelles grow amongst the ground floor around oak trees and conifers. I find chanterelles growing in people's yards mostly, and along the edge of the woods. 
Where you know there is a grove of pines during the months of July and August, you will also find Chanterelle mushrooms. Another way to ensure you have collected Chanterelles, is by the spore print. Lay a mushroom facing down on a white sheet of paper, and within several hours you'll notice a pink spore print.

Chanterelle mushroom forage #1, July 9th 2015

For three weeks, James and I have dedicated much of our time to foraging berries around the yard and in the woods. With the extra berries we have started to make jelly. So far we have stored over 20 jars of jelly in the fridge. I hope to sell many of these at $4-5 for each half pint. When making the jelly, I strain the seeds from the blackberries so that I can throw the seed out for growing plants.

July 9th chanterelle forage #2

July 10th 2015 chanterelle forage

We are still unsure what these pink blackberries are called, but we are picking them to save for seed. I may stick each individual berry into a pot of soil.

BIG Squash Harvest & Pumpkins, Melons, Gourds, Acorn growing FAST!

Today James walked all the way to my grandparents' house to pick these yellow squash from our garden. There must be over 20 large squashes in the crate, weighing over 10 lbs. At the groceries stores, this harvest of 10-15 lbs organic non-gmo yellow squash would cost $20-30. 

June 28th 2015 yellow squash harvest

June 27th 2015 harvest

Four days ago, we harvested a big bag of yellow squash, but not quite as many as we harvested today.

June 24th yellow squash harvest

Along with the yellow squash, We have also harvested peppers and tomatoes. 

June 26th 2015 pepper & tomato harvest

June 28th harvest

Several days ago I showed you pictures of the pumpkins, acorn squash, and butternut growing in the garden. After only two days, these fruits have tripled their size. You can compare sizes from the pictures I posted at Late June 2015 garden update, and the ones I took today, which you can see below. I wanted to also show you the progress on the melon patch. I'm telling you--hugelkultur mounds are perfect for growing melons and big fruits like squashes. I think I am growing successfully, more productive, larger fruits than all other years of growing food because I am using hugelkultur. 

 

watermelon

cantaloupe

cantaloupe

acorn squash

pumpkins

Other exciting happenings in the garden were that the the figs are finally making fruit. Some friends that live in California were already getting figs months ago, so I was quite worried that none of the fig trees would produce this year. Thankfully I found many figs forming, and a couple that were getting bigger by the day.

Chicago Hardy Figs

Chicago hardy figs

Also, the Birdhouse gourds plants are flowering. I noticed the Gourd's flowers opened right before it got dark outside. I suspect they get pollinated by moths. Apparently, hard skinned gourds bloom in the evening and at night. I have read that many flowers that bloom at dusk are white flowers, like the gourd flowers you see below. Another thing I noticed was that over night (the following day) the gourd's flowers wilted and whithered away in the morning time.
"As with other members of the Cucurbitaceae family, these plants can have trouble with pollination. If pollinators are not abundant in the area, you may have to pollinate by hand, by removing the male blossoms and dusting them onto the female blossoms.
You can also take a Q-tip or small paint brush, rub some pollen from the male flower and put it on the female" (Gardening for life).

Greens going to seed while vegetables begin to fruit

This is the time for blueberries! For the last three days I have picked more than 20 berries. Some of them are sweet and some sour.

The middle of June is a transition period in the garden. The greens go to seed, and the vegetables begin to fruit. The lettuce, kales, and collards are not going to seed because they can tolerate a little heat and scorching sun light. However, Radicchio, Onions, Arugula, Spinach, and Radishes bolted several weeks ago and are putting off seeds. Once they dry out naturally, I will collect the seed to plant them for a Fall crop. 

Radicchio flowering

The vegetables that are fruiting are pumpkin, tomatoes, and peppers. The melons are flowering of course and vining all over the place.

pumpkin 

The Cucumbers, birdhouse gourds, Luffa (or Loofah) plants have yet to flower, but I am working on a trellis structure for them to grow upon. The Birdhouse gourds are growing up a trellis arbor I added onto last night, which you can see below.

I wanted to show you some of the vegetables continuing to grow in the garden, and many of the vegetables that are fruiting. In the pictures below, you'll see Cauliflower making heads, tomatoes turning red, and peppers forming.

The pictures provided are from our main garden. I'm not sure what kind of activity is happening in the other two gardens. Because of the lack of rain, I'm not too sure any plants are fruiting. I have looked at the forecast for this region, which says we'll be getting rain for the next 10 days. I highly expect the squash and beans and early corn to produce in the next week or two.