We’ve had pretty unsettled weather here this week. Lots of thunderstorm warnings and showers. We did have drought early in the spring but from my perspective our summer has been pretty typical. Plenty of sunny days and rain at reasonable intervals. I think that our water table may still be down a bit from the spring and a slightly lower rainfall amount overall. I’m very worried for gardeners and farmers across the US who are experiencing their most severe drought in many years. If you missed it yesterday be sure to check out the post that I re-blogged from A Healthy Life for Me about how hot weather affects the garden. While your there be sure to check out the recipes too!
Here in the Salem Garden, things are coming right along. The Black-eyed Susan and Echinacea are in full bloom. I remember the neighbor who gave me my first clump of Black-Eyed Susan saying that they are “like sunshine”. They really are!
This single Sunflower popped up on the edge of the yard this week. I had no idea it was there. We didn’t plant it on purpose it just reseeded from somewhere. What a nice surprise!
Here’s our first Zinnia bloom! I should have plenty for cutting in a few days.
The pole beans found the fence and trellis. I’m wondering if they need a more pole-like structure to climb on. 
This large plant is Horseradish. This is its second year and it has come into its own. I need to weed around it and add some compost.
It’s time to make some pesto! I’ll try to freeze some this week. I did clip back those flower buds after I took this photo. Be sure to clip the flower buds off of the Basil daily. It makes a big difference!
We have red tomatoes! Yay! A little wilt too. These Cherry tomato plants are across the garden from the Roma. I find Roma tomatoes to be a very disease resistant variety, but I’ll be sure to pick from the Cherry plants last and wash my hands well before I touch the Roma again. I hope that helps to prevent it from spreading, at least for a while.
The first gladioli is blooming! Hopefully we’ll see lots of these in the next week or so.
Time to get outside! There’s lots to do!
What’s growing in your garden? Leave a comment and let me know!
Enjoy Everything!!
Michele
Related articles
- Nationwide Drought Impacts Americans, Even in Massachusetts (becausewater.com)
- What’s Happening in the Garden – July 14th (thesalemgarden.com)
- US warns drought will push up food prices in 2013 – BBC News (bbc.co.uk)
- The Effects Of Hot Weather On Your Garden (ahealthylifeforme.com)
The Salem Garden 
Beautifull. I only garden on my deck. 4 tomatoe plants. we were giving my first tomatoe one more day to get a bit more red. The next morning it was GONE. It reappeared yesterday on the railing of the lower deck half eaten with many bite marks. Mr.S. has also eaten our sunflowers.
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Oh no! I’m sorry to hear that June! Do you think Mr S got the tomato or was it a raccoon or something? It’s strange that it reappeared like that.
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Everything is looking so lovely… especially the echinacea and cherry tomatoes! I had a surprise sunflower pop up (I think a bird planted it) and it’s so much stronger than the ones I planted in Spring.
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Thanks PJ! I love the surprises!
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Your Black-eyed Susan and Echinacea are stunning. Also love that you plant gladioli.
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Thank you! and thanks for stopping by too!
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