Our cherry tomatoes are starting to ripen, I saw several yesterday that probably can be picked today. My brother's brandywines are getting really big, they look amazing, but no change in color yet. These are plants he grew from seeds in just his second year of gardening.

And both varieties of pumpkins have blossoms that were pollinated this year. One is a Jack Be Little, which are so cute, and I can't remember the name of the large one. Both varieties are being trellised this year, they seem to be doing well.

We also have corn that is super tall, okra that is coming along slowly (it was a replant after the first planting got washed away by rain), watermelons, cantaloupe (volunteers again), tomatillos (mostly volunteers), cucumbers, onions, peppers (three or four varieties), zucchini, and beans (three varieties).

In addition to a few cherry tomatoes, we've harvested zucchini and it had for four meals + cake this month. And today sis is harvesting contender green beans and burgundy beans for supper.  

SnowAngel

My mom has been participating in a community garden in our area. She planted potatoes, tomatoes, tomatillos, carrots, and leeks there.

It's the middle of winter here, but we've had a few mild days. My gardener and lawnmower man have both made an impact on the neglected look of my garden. (Gardener comes every 2 weeks if its not raining), and the lawn man when I ask him , if the grass is looking overgrown). A cold snap is coming this afternoon. Maybe next week I can start buying new plants for planting in spring.

That is really cool, @jasmine_tarkheena, that your mom is involved in the community garden. These types of plots are such an excellent idea.

It's true, eh, coracle? If a garden gets left, it eventually grows out of control. I know every day, pretty much, I have to be out there weeding and tending (which I love, but one does have to make sure to plan it into their day).  

We are wanting to put up a natural fence, because our new neighbours to the east are not what the previous neighbours were. We hardly have any fences in our little hamlet. If people have anything up, it's natural greenery, which is lovely. Anyway, we are looking at Emerald Cedars, which we have read are some of the best kind, and grow at a rate of one-two feet per year. Does anyone here have this type of cedar? If so, what is your experience with it?

In other news, with all this unusual and welcome July rain we have had, our gardens are bursting at the seams.   Both vegetable (two) and floral (many).

@jo I'm wondering whether to relocate my Oakleaf Hydrangea.  As I know you also have one, can you tell me how tall it's grown, and how much sun it gets ? I just read that they don't need pruning, just cutting off dead flowers. 

@coracle, our Oakleaf Hydrangea is a nice size now—full and round—especially compared with the sweet, small thing from 2016 that we planted all together in memory of qwertykate. Below are links to a couple of recent photos. The plant receives around eight hours of sunlight.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/MsDEVyLShxXNamv56

https://photos.app.goo.gl/8c7SbsG4Y4WJx1Pk6

The thing is, it hasn't had a lot of blooms yet. We get one or two each summer, but I'd sure love to see more. Other than that lack, the Oakleaf is looking really healthy.

Re our private hedge I mentioned above: after a fair bit of personal research, and inquiring at a trustworthy garden centre in town, we are settled on Emerald Cedars. They will look really lovely, planted along the eastern side of our property.

^ Stock photo, not mine. Of course, it will be a few years before ours reach this height. We are now debating whether to purchase the 5' or 3'. We actually may end up purchasing a combination of heights.

I've begun my vege planting at last; I've been a lot later than in the previous two years, as winter was colder and longer this year. So, I've planted 2 rows of broccoli and cauliflower seedlings, and some butter beans (they may grow, but they are a few years old).
I did this after working hard mowing my lawns; the man who usually comes is away this month, so I'm filling in with my small electric mower. It's hard work as I'm not very fit or strong.
I'd already put in some flower seedlings: sweet peas to climb up two places, and zinnias to help fill space in the flower bed I can see from the lounge. I'm not putting much in, as I won't be here during November & December, and my house sitter isn't a keen gardener.

Back in April, my outdoor-loving daughter got two carnivorous plants for her birthday -- a venus fly trap and a pitcher plant. The pitcher plant spent most of the year growing, and only early Fall did it FINALLY develop some cute little pitchers that as far as I can tell haven't caught a thing. Just the wrong time of year.

However, the Venus Fly Trap.... oh my goodness. I finally lost count halfway through the summer at 35 flies, but by the end of summer, my estimate is over 70 flies (and a handful of gnats, one mosquito, and one jumping spider) that this plant has consumed. It has grown and grown and grown and needs to be divided which I'm TERRIFIED of trying. Needless to say, I love this plant and my daughter has really enjoyed it as well.

So naturally for Christmas this year, I'm planning to expand her carnivorous plant collection. I had heard of Sundew plants before, and my local gardening center has one I'm going to snag in the next couple weeks. But entirely by accident, I discovered a whole new family of carnivorous plants called Butterworts (isn't this a name in Harry Potter? Anyways....). So, I ordered my daughter a set of three from a seller on etsy and I can't wait to get them. Talk about secretly buying for yourself.... 

@fantasia Great to hear the Venus Fly Trap is trapping away merrily!  They are popular in Australia too, and I always wanted one when I was little, but never managed to get one.

Maybe you could find someone locally who's an expert or at least more experienced than you are — perhaps from the local garden centre — who could show you how to separate and repot the plant without damaging it? Hey, then you'll have TWO Venus Fly Traps, and potentially more to come, so you could start treating more family members and friends to them...  

I haven't heard of Butterworts, but they do sound very interesting. Hope the Sundews are a success as well!

@fantasia, what a great post! That is so cool about the Venus Fly Trap. I love your daughter's interest in All Things Outdoors! Reading this is causing me to really want a Fly Trap in our home. Are they a lot of care? I was going to suggest, too, that you contact your garden centre for how best to transplant. I would very much like to see a photo of the trap, recalling one you posted when you first purchased it. What an absolutely fascinating plant! And keep us posted on the Butterworts and Sundews! (Yes, I think the Bws are mentioned in HP.)

Our gardening and yard work has been done for bit now, considering we received 8-10" of snow this past week. Most leaves are mowed and mulched (we have 15 maples on our property), so with the exception of some stragglers in the extensive flower beds, our Autumn work is over.

Btw, we did end up purchasing twelve 5' emerald cedars in the early Autumn (30% off, hurrah!), which are doing very well. We watered them abundantly and faithfully until after the first frost; now we need to protect them for the cold, snowy winter ahead, as there is a huge farmer's field behind us (south) and to the west, so the wind and elements really whip in there.

My 12 or so amaryllis bulbs from the garden are safely tucked downstairs in the cool and dark until mid-January, when I will bring them up to re-grow them. How I love seeing that first teensy peek of a bud a couple of weeks after they are out in the light again, and watered. Then it's time to encourage folk by gifting them (keeping a couple back for ourselves) when winter is at its darkest.  

Posted by: @jo

Reading this is causing me to really want a Fly Trap in our home. Are they a lot of care? I was going to suggest, too, that you contact your garden centre for how best to transplant.

They're not hard to care for at all. However, because mine has become SO overgrown, it's thirsty and I have to water it twice a day. 
Care: plant it in a medium that has next to no nutrients. Anything with fertilizer will kill it. We have ours in peat moss. 
Ours sits in a plastic glass that we keep filled with DISTILLED WATER ONLY!!! Tap water will kill it. 
And then it sits in our kitchen window. It prefers indirect sunlight, but now that it's winter and we have the sun streaming in the window, I haven't noticed any adverse effects. 
When the leaves get old and turn black, just break them off and throw them away.

As for dividing it, I know in theory how to do it. You pull them out of the moss so they're bare root and then with a sterilized knife cut the roots apart and then replant. Easy right? I'm just terrified of killing it. lol

Posted by: @courtenay

Hey, then you'll have TWO Venus Fly Traps, and potentially more to come, so you could start treating more family members and friends to them...  

Yeah, I can see at least four separate plants on mine at least. It's so bushy I can't tell if there are more than that or not. But I do have one friend who has already laid claim to one when I finally get the courage to dissect them.  

https://ibb.co/gPnrTBf

https://ibb.co/MfVJSmH

Thanks for the photos and the care description, fantasia. The Fly Trap looks so unique, intricate, beautiful. I am saving your post (email notification) in case I find one around here. I am determined to get one now that I hear more of your story!

Posted by: @fantasia

You pull them out of the moss so they're bare root and then with a sterilized knife cut the roots apart and then replant. Easy right? I'm just terrified of killing it. lol

Understandable! And let's hope that once you pull it out, it will not react with the ear-piercing antics that the Mandrakes did in HP.   Maybe you had better put on earmuffs ... just in case.  

Posted by: @fantasia

But I do have one friend who has already laid claim to one when I finally get the courage to dissect them.

If we lived close by, I would totally put a claim on another one!  

We're behind on getting seeds and plants in the ground this spring, but hopefully by the end of the week we'll have our summer crops in the ground. Our tomato plants desperately need to get into the ground, they are way too big to go under the grow light. My brother put Organic Rev on them and they took off.   Our pepper plants are also bigger than we expected them to be.

The three apple trees we planted two years ago actually look like real trees this year and not just sticks in the ground, of course they are still a few years from bearing very many apples. But we are hoping this will be the year we get two or more apples.  One of my brothers is learning to graft and a friend from church gave him some Oliver to graft onto our trees. 

We decided it's time for the blueberry bushes to go in the ground, they haven't grown well in the buckets, so it's time to move on from them. The bushes do have more berries this year, but only three have survived wintering in the buckets. 

Oh, and we also got two peach trees from the church friend. They are tiny, but seem to be thriving.  

SnowAngel

My mom is participating in the community garden again this year. She planted bell peppers, tomatoes, and poblano peppers. We use them for salsas and other Mexican dishes.

One of my truest joys as of late (and honestly. . . one of the few things that brings me happiness and bliss during these dark days) has been my garden.  Two years ago, I purchased my own home, and doing my landscaping has been a source of immense joy and pride for me.  

I was hopeful that I would be able to do a vegetable garden there.  For those of you who have been to my parent's house, you can imagine that this was difficult due to the wildlife.  I eventually gave up on having anything make it to maturity over there because deer would just eat everything to the ground.  Last year I had a nice vegetable garden at my house. . . but found that the menaces were squirrels - not deer.  They liked to use my plants as a jungle gym, which often left the fragile plants decapitated. . . After dropping 300 dollars on replacement plants last year in an attempt to keep up with their acrobatics. . . I ended up waving the white flag of surrender to the squirrels and decided to just buy any produce I wanted to eat.  Three hundred dollars will buy a lot of tomatoes. . . 

This year, in that area, I'm putting in a lovely little English shade garden with some hedges, some small trees, ferns, and herbs.  I'll use pea gravel instead of mulch to cover the area, and put a nice little bench over there to make it a quiet area of reflection.  

I have spent well over a thousand dollars on my flower gardens this year (I know. . . but as I said. . . it is literally the only thing bringing me joy right now.)  I'll have to get around to posting some photographs in here for those of you who don't follow me on instagram (@dr.digs)