I’m so bad about updating you all on the garden! It’s been a very productive summer in my little 4×8′ vegetable garden. I’ve harvested dozens of the juiciest, most delicious heirloom tomatoes and I’ve never eaten this many jalapeños in my life. Here’s the July veggie garden (and beyond) update!

Tomatoes Galore

I hardly took any photos of my tomatoes this year, which is a real shame because I’ve harvested dozens of the best tomatoes I’ve ever eaten. This was my first year starting tomato plants from seed (I grew these beauties in my bathroom in January thanks to Park Seed) and I swear, they’re the best tomato plants I’ve ever grown.

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I’m only growing Cherokee Purple and Black Krim tomatoes this year, neither of which is particularly high-yielding but it’s my garden and I’ll grow what I want! I regret nothing. Sadly birds/squirrels have eaten at least a dozen but I’ve still had my fill. Not a week has gone by without an abundance of juicy heirloom tomatoes.

Jalapeño Palooza

I’ve grown a ton of peppers this year but it’s definitely the jalapeño plant that has my heart. It’s a full time job keeping up with my jalapeño harvest! If you grow one thing and want to feel like a rockstar, grow jalapeños.

I harvested at least 2 dozen jalapeños from a single plant in just one month and then I lost track. I’m making jalapeño poppers every week over here! I’m putting them in salads, pasta, omelettes, and more. It’s truly been a jalapeño palooza.

Zucchini

I also started zucchini plants from seed this year and had the biggest, showiest zucchini plants that were producing tons of gorgeous zucchini (one of my favorite vegetables) until I had an outbreak of leaf-footed bugs. Unfortunately I did not catch it right away. It was horrifying, y’all.

After battling them for a few days to no avail, I made the sad decision to pull up my zucchini plants to protect my tomatoes from the infestation. That was a month ago and I’m delighted to report that it was the right call, because I haven’t seen any leaf-footed bugs since and my tomato plants were spared. Sometimes you have to make hard calls like this in the garden.

RIP zucchini plants! Thank you for the yummy harvest in your short time. I will say, this was the most delicious zucchini I’ve ever eaten and I’d do it all again just for the sheer amount of zucchini blossoms I got to eat in May and June.

Strawberries & Blackberries

I’ve had a ridiculously productive strawberry year. For about six weeks, I was harvesting a handful of berries every morning that were so sweet and perfect. They’ve slowed down now but I’m still finding the occasional strawberry! The blackberries are so good that I really never even got a photo of them. I see them, I eat them. I planted a second bush and hope for an even bigger harvest next year.

Growing Grapes

I’ve harvested a ridiculous amount of grapes this year! They’re so sweet and juicy. I eat them straight off the vine (which is right next to my veggie garden) when they’re still warm from the sun. Pure bliss! This grapevine came with me to this house over a decade ago – one of the few things to come with me from my first garden!

I’m considering harvesting the leaves to make dolmas this year but I don’t think I have the heart. My grapevine is such a lovely photo backdrop in my garden!

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Growing Zinnias

This year I’ve also grown zinnias in a little cutting garden and it’s brought me such joy this summer! However, the idea of “heat loving zinnias” remains to be seen here in Texas. I left for the lake house for three days and they were nearly toast. Perhaps I need to plant zinnias in the ground next summer rather than in a box!

Fall Planning

Now that it’s high summer, it’s malabar spinach and basil’s time to shine. With peppers and tomatoes slowing down, I’m already looking ahead to my fall garden. I hyped my tomatoes from Park Seed so much that they kindly sent me a care package of seeds to try and I couldn’t be more excited.

Bush bean seeds were immediately planted since they supposedly do okay in the heat. I have to plant around my giant tomato plants because, quite frankly, they are still producing through Thanksgiving most years here in Texas.

Here’s my current fall garden plan:

• Now: Direct sow bush bean seeds in bed and pumpkin seeds in the side yard.
• Late August: Start pansy seeds in trays indoors and direct sow carrots outside. Park Seed has seed tape that I’m chomping at the bit to try!
• September: Direct sow beets, nasturtium, Swiss chard, lettuce, radishes, and kohlrabi outside.
• October: Direct sow peas. Harvest basil to make pesto for the winter!

I’m also considering trying garlic for the first time this year. Comment and let me know what you’re growing! And remember: you don’t have to have a big yard to grow a ton of your own food.