Fruit & Vegetable July Harvest

Hey garden friends – you know what? Every year I forget how looooong it takes to harvest! Goodness, I think it took me an hour just to pick that bowl of blueberries you see.

What was I thinking planting twelve blueberry bushes? Only about five are big enough to get a full harvest from right now – what on earth am I going to do when all twelve are producing fully?

Maybe a roadside u-pick is going to be in my future…

July Harvest

Lettuce

I planted a row of mixed loose-leaf summer lettuces that are producing nicely – and not going to seed in the warm weather we’ve been having like the spring lettuces (butterheads are the worst- they bolt at the first sign of heat).

Brassicas

I also harvested the rest of the cauliflower and cabbage (I did leave the stalks of the cabbage, though, and have already got multiple little heads growing from earlier cuttings).

It wasn’t a good year for cauliflower. The heads are misshapen and marred by a major aphid attack. This is the first time I’ve ever had an aphid problem with cauliflower – usually they bother the broccoli.

Just when you think you’ve got it figured out…the gardening life is rarely dull, is it?

Carrots & Snap Peas

These are the first of our carrots – some are thinnings so the others can grow bigger. And the snap pea vines are loaded – I only picked a few for lunch because I ran out of harvest time {drat all those little blueberries!}. The rest will have to wait.

Blackberries

And aren’t those Marionberries something? They are my favorite blackberry and they are quintessentially Oregon – in fact they are named for the Oregon county in which they were tested: Marion County. Their wonderful flavor makes the BEST berry crisp!

Blueberries & Birds

The blueberries are still coming on strong. I have many different varieties in order to have a staggered harvest – my mature plants should produce through July.

I’m happy to report that the rubber snakes and the scare tape together are keeping enough of the birds away that I’m only losing a handful on each bush, which I’m fine with.

When I picked these yesterday, there seemed to be a bit more lost on one plant in particular, so I moved the snakes around a bit to see if that will help. I’m getting plenty, though, so I count the scare tape-rubber snake combo a success!