Our garden is doing good so far this year. We’ve been enjoying cucumbers, squash, and zucchini and are anxiously awaiting the corn, beans, peas, peppers, and tomatoes.
A few tomatoes are turning now so it won’t be long till we can feast on them.
There’s a few beans ready to pick but not really enough for a mess. I’d guess another week will have us picking the first beans for eating and canning.
We have a ton of grapes growing. I hope nothing happens to them between now and when they get ripe enough to harvest.
The malabar spinach has seemed especially good for some reason this summer.
We’ve pulled up a bed of garlic as well as some of the big onions we grew.
In the bags that held the onions I planted a few more squash, basil, and zucchini which completes this year’s summer planting.
I couldn’t resist starting a few turnips in one of the bags too. We’ll see how they do.
Before I know it we’ll be thinking about what to plant for fall. Time is passing swiftly by.
Here’s the best planting days for July 2026.
Taurus: good for all root crops and above ground crops 8, 9.
Cancer: best for planting above ground and root crops 12, 13.
Scorpio: best for flowers and above ground crops 21, 22.
Pisces: good for planting and transplanting above ground crops, trees and shrubbery 4, 5, 31.
Last night’s video: Decoration Day, Garden Joy, & Good Eating—All During the Month of June.
Tipper
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Hi! Our yard has a lot of thistle in it. We spend a lot of time pulling thistle. Today I noticed that the thistle was much easier to pull than usual, I got the full root about 80 percent of the time. Yes we had a little rain this week, but other days with moisture in the ground haven’t pulled like this. I had a great-aunt who planted by the signs, so I was wondering if it was the right sign for pulling weeds?! Tuesday July 28, 2026. Thank you! I am going to subscribe.
Hi Tipper and Acorns. I have one measly 3″ sprig of dill in a pot. It is pitiful. I set out a pot of Lavendar. Whatever got on our lawn and nearly killed it is in everything out there. The Blueberries are dropping off. I guess we will just use the grocery store. I keep everyone here and up Wilson Holler (and y’all’s gardens) in my prayers. TY so much for Praying for Ed and me. Lif’s a mess but GOD is Great and HE loves us all. I love y’all
It is really fun to hear where your garden is at and all the plans you have! We have a very rainy and humid week here which I know will make the garden explode with growth!
I keep my calendar marked for gardening with the signs. Thanks! Looking forward to having enough cucumbers to start making pickles in the next week or so.
Thanks for the planting dates. I will use them to do some 2nd round planting, probably summer squash, as I read a way to beat squash bug is to.plant later after they have completed there early summer life cycle. Also have some dill and basil seed I may use up. We are having Georgia summer though of 90s and little chance of rain so poor conditions to plant anything in, esp. July 4th and 5th. I was having trouble with a critter in the P&C corn and nothing I tried made a difference until I just bagged the ears in grocery bags (small garden,only 8 short rows). Lo and behold,it worked – long enough anyway to save the remainder. Looked strange of course, maybe that’s what made it work.
All I have is beans. The storm Saturday flattened six of my tomatoes leaving me with two standing. I did plant a volunteer I found near my compost cage. I also have one purple sweet potato that I started in the kitchen window and set out in the garden.
I’m considering broadcasting turnip seeds when the beans are through.
I’ve got blooms on the beans. Gourd plants still just spreading out. Tomatoes are coming on. Cucumbers still just blooming and I’ve gotten 5 crookneck early squash already. Some potatoes are getting close to finishing and peppers are just blooming. Some hollyhocks got eaten. My nasturtium is gorgeous. I plant that one cause of you, Tipper, and I’m so glad I do. Butterfly bush, lavender, elderberry, and Chicago fig trees going ok. Huckleberries are hanging in as is my pumpkin I planted for the little boy neighbor I think so highly of. He doesn’t know it yet, but that’s my plan to surprise him. He’s at camp this week and I sure hope the little towhead is enjoying it. I did lose one Chicago fig that I’d lugged around about 3 years before planting. The good news is there’s a white oak coming up in the mess (so I’m delighted since the granny that used to live here took down the big oak that stood here a very long time.) I sure hope you get lots of grapes for jellies and juices too. My plants on the porch are gorgeous begonias, scarlet sage, a bougainvillea that is wild, a yellow rose that’s blooming full, ferns as full as my curly head and a pink geranium that’s up to my knees…I’m pretty sure God meets me in the garden… it’s our happy place… I do a lot of thinking and sweating in there…
Tipper, seeing Ira helping in the garden was just so precious. Passing the culture on to the next generation! I also appreciate the way you decorate the graves. Appalachia is at its best when at the peak of each season. For now, it’s the lush beauty of the garden and the trees, and all of the life that is so evident. I’m already looking forward to fall, probably due to the current heat wave here. I hope your garden continues to flourish, and I’m glad it’s a good berry year!
Praying for Papaw Tony.
We gathered over 200 tomatoes last week. We have 31 quart bags in the freezer for soup next Winter. The rest went to friends, neighbors and sandwiches. The nights are too warm now for them to set fruit so the green ones already on the vines now will probably end our crop for this year. In the Fall there may be a few that I’ll fry green. We only have one 4×12 bed. I hope to add two more for next year if my health holds out.
Happy July!! We’re celebrating with a “heat dome” here in west central IL. The heat and oppressive humidity are outrageous but but does everything green look great!!!! I’m hoping everything holds up until this passes. I have a couple of impatiens that I’ve had to move from their current spots because by 10 a.m. they’ve wilted something fierce. I’m getting ready to go to my chemo treatment in a bit. The passing of time is definitely passing quickly as 28 days rolls around before I know it!! Prayers for Papaw Tony and the rest of the mighty Acorns in need♡ My next treatment will be on July 29th and I’m hoping to come home that day and have a Cherokee purple mater sammich!!! This is my first attempt growing it and I must say, they are looking fabulous!!!
So glad y’all are having a a bountiful garden this year. I can’t wait to read, or see videos, of the harvesting and cooking wonderful meals.
God bless!
My tomato plants are loaded but not ripe for picking. For now my neighbors are keeping me supplied from their bounty and I’m thankful! For late planting, it will be holly hocks!
I adore the picture of Ira holding the pail of cucumbers.
Praying for Matt’s dad. Have a good day!
good morning and God bless Matt’s father Tony, in Jesus name, deliverance from sickness and disease, heal his body and make him well Lord, make all things possible for his healing, in Jesus name Amen
thank you dee, thank you Regina s, thank you J selleck, thank you Linda L, and somebody else contacted me by email, I have lost that information, thank you for praying for me, God bless you very much, anybody that has prayed for me thank you very much God bless you
Have y’all made muscadine juice with the muscadine in the jar? Fond memories of my country kin having those in their cellar.
I haven’t ever canned them that way 🙂