Weekly Update: July Week 1

The cherry tomatoes are beginning to ripen... and there are other encouraging signs of good things to come! I spent some time trying to reign in both the cherry tomatoes and the cucumbers, both have gone just absolutely CRAZY in their prospective locations.

I seem to have a minor aphid/white fly attach underway on the bush tomatoes, so I spent some time trying to spray them down with some natural deterrent. I'm hoping that takes care of it for the most part. I don't like using any chemicals at all, but at least these are nature-based ones. (I don't like having my tomatoes killed by aphids either!)

Probably the most exciting highlights this week have been with the various eggplants as you can see below. Nothing ready to pick just yet, but it looks like we're well on the way!

LEFT: After a miserable failure last year it looks like I've finally managed to grow some Easter Eggs!!! They're not ripe yet but early signs are looking good! Who knew eggs grew on plants! These two are just about the most perfect shape and size you can imagine. You can also see up in the left corner of the photo that the plant is actually LOADED with blooms still. I can't wait to see this thing loaded down with eggs! Too fun!

Right: Just a couple of the young Black Beauty Egg Plants. I have two plants, and both are loaded with developing fruit and blooms. Looks like we're going to have a pretty decent crop this year. Last year they were all eaten up by black beetles, but I've been pretty consistent with dusting them this year and so far I've managed to keep them pretty safe!

BELOW: Two amazing photos. I've NEVER seen anything like this. The photo on the left shows a cluster of 7!!! baby eggplants. They are so cute. The longest one in the photo is probably only about 2" or so. They look like miniature versions of what the mature fruit will look like. I'm so excited to see what happens. Last year the bugs got the plants before the fruit really had time to ripen and I didn't get any. This year there must be about 50 or so fruits on the two plants. AMAZING!

The picture on the right is of a TWIN EGGPLANT. There are two individual fruits growing from the same stem. I've never seen anything quite like it. I'm not sure exactly what will happen as they get bigger. It seems like they'll be forced to split apart as they get bigger around, but I guess we'll just wait and see!!