I planted two more hills of Zucchini for a fall crop, as this one will probably succumb to borers by the end of August if not sooner. I also planted a couple of hills of Butternut squash, but I am probably way too late. In any case, it will help me set the planting date for winter squash for next year.

Almost all of the fall stuff I planted earlier this week is popping out of the ground already.

I also pulled up the onions that Mary gave me as they were doing nothing. I planted that whole cell of the herb garden with seed for bunching onions. I won’t thin them, and I’ll see if they will produce perpetually.

I fertilized the whole garden today with Miracle Grow.

Black Krim, almost ready to pick.

I picked the first four Black Krim heirloom tomatoes today. They are a bit larger than a golf ball, and very tasty. We’ll see if the later ripening ones are any bigger. I made open faced sandwiches with basil, onion, Black Krimm tomatoes and banana peppers on toasted multi-grain bread, topped with mozzarella,a bit of parmesan and a generous grind of fresh black pepper. I stuck it under the broiler until brown and bubbly. Very tasty. Can’t wait for the other varieties of heirlooms to ripen.

We picked enough blackberries for dessert for FWG last night. I made shortcake from Bisquick. Jackie was in from Africa, so it was a fun evening. This is almost the end of the Blackberries, the heat and drought limited what should have been a bumper crop.

Char picked a couple of cukes from her side of the fence — these are the first ones. They are coming in fairly slow, but I planted quite late.

We finally got some more rain last night, I measured about 0.6 inches. Every little bit helps, but the temperature is supposed to be back to 100 tomorrow.

I did the fall planting in the new bed today, hopefully I’m not too late. Here’s what went in:

• 2 Rows Roma Beans
• 1 wide row of kale
• 2 rows of Swiss Chard
• 2 Rows pat-a-pan squash, 1 green and 1 yellow.

I also planted a wide row of Bloomingsdale Long-Standing spinach next to the existing row of Swiss Chard.

I also cleaned up behind the barn for a planting of butternut squash.

This is the new raised bed.

Since the blackberries have taken over one of my beds and most of the aisle between the beds, I decided to create a new raised bed from one of the old ones, perpendicular to the others. I wasn’t able to do much with the old ones for the past few years because of the shade. It took most of the day, as I had to dig a trench for the new bed , remove the old wood and rebuild it into a new bed, fill the bed with soil and compost and then roto-till it.

But, it’s done and ready to plant with vegetables for the fall. I got little red bites all over my forearms from some critters, but they don’t itch, so no big deal.

Blackberries, almost ready to pick!

We’ve had blackberries for a week or so, but the production has kicked up enough that I was able to bring enough for dessert for FWG tonight. I make cream puff shells and put in some ice cream and them topped them with loads of fresh berries and whipped cream. A little decadent, but it is the first major harvest of berries. Everyone enjoyed it.

Got an Early Girl tomato today from the larger Home Depot plant. It doesn’t appear that any others are even starting to turn yet.