wilty squash and tiny carrots

happy end of july! the summer growing season is half over and everything is probably either out of control humongous (photos of my tomato "tree" to come soon) or dried up and brown. i am checking all my veggies every day to pick anything that is ripe or close to ripe. with weather this hot and sunny, a cucumber could be two inches one day and two feet the next.....very jack-in-the-beanstalk like. start thinking about cool weather crops soon....in the next few blogs over a week or so, i'm going to cover a few specific growing needs and tips for some delicious, easy to grow cool weather veggies. just as your cukes and tomatoes will be winding down, you'll have tender baby spinach, arugula, and radishes popping up again.

my squash in a burlap bag.....my best creative planting idea, my delicious zephyr squashies, my free plant i was so proud to acquire.....succumbed to wilt while i was vacationing. my mom watched my plants so i know it was in good hands, but still....im very sad! what exactly is wilt? well, what it sounds like. the plants wilts up and dies, from too much heat and humidity. squash and the like are especially sensitive to it. i think the humidity especially had a lot to do with it.

pulled up some of my adorable Tonda Di Parigi carrots. They are a heirloom seed from 19th century France, and the MOST PRECIOUS carrots you will ever see. if you have kids and they don't eat veggies....well i bet they'd eat these. check out the photo:

i love them! they are also delicious (bonus!), sweet, crunchy, perfect carrot heaven! will write more tomorrow. :)