Cukes.

Nice! 

My cucumbers are basically done.  I picked enough for 4 gallons of pickles and a few salads.  Now the tomatoes are out of control.  I just came in from picking 26 and I'll have that many again by Friday I would guess.  My jalapenos are on their 4th sprouting.....but my zucchini suck!  I guess I have a pollen problem because I'm getting plenty of flowers but the "male" parts are not growing to fruit. I've had a grand total of ONE zucchini.

In about 3 weeks I'll put next years strawberries in and a fall crop of radishes.

I'm working hard to keep 5 blackberry sprigs alive but we cut them on July 4th and it's been hot as hell......they are barely hanging on.  I may have to replant later in the Fall but I am no longer looking to next year to have berries.

i don't think the males fruit, they just die off.  I often have a sprout of males, and then the females slowly develop as the males die.  you can also pollinate yourself with a cue tip if you are really concerned.

I don't understand zucchini plants......I'm thinking about pollinating them with a forking rake.

I tried this......I felt like an idiot doing it, but I did it for the sake of zucchini bread, which I love.  It didn't work. 

Yesterday afternoon I tried a different method.  First, I stomped the chit out of both plants.  Then, I took the end of a shovel and chopped the stompings into pieces.  Next, I threw the pieces out into the yard and ran over them with a lawn mower.  Finally, I took the mulch from the mower bag and threw it in the creek.

I don't know if my method will work any better than yours, but I feel better.

Yeah, big tomatoes are about done here.  I'm headed up to Nebraska this weekend and when I get back I'll pick whatever is red or close, and all of the green ones to pickle......it's been a good year.  Plenty of water and heat.  I probably got 125 tomatoes out of 6 plants.  The cherry tomatoes will go another round yet.  I hope to get another 50-100 red off of them.  I counted my jalapenos tonight.....74 on 4 plants....this will be the 4th picking when I get to it next week.

I've got strawberry plants coming next week, and I'll put in 8-10 rows of radishes while I'm at it.

The best news is that I was able to grow 4 out of 6 blackberry sprigs even though I put them in the ground in mid July.....I bet I've got 200 gallons of water on them to keep them alive. LOL

I want to try horseradish in the spring, to harvest in the fall so I've been reading up on that.  we eat a lot of seafood and I like to make my own cocktail sauce with fresh horseradish....I want my own!

On another note, a guy who works for me brought in about 100 peaches from his trees today, I took a couple dozen.......delicious!!

Man, it's time to make room in the freezer.....got deer and turkey from last year to make jerky out of.  It's almost harvest season....fresh meat coming!

This is such a tough life.

Yep.......two weekends ago we ran lines on the Mississippi from Friday night until Sunday morning....camping on a sand bar within 12 miles of downtown St. Louis.  We caught and cleaned over 400 lbs. of flathead, blue, and channel cats.  I bet we didn't see 10 other boats fishing the river.

You don't have to live in the country to be able to fend for yourself.....but you have to have it in your heart.