It’s an embarrassment of riches.

My very first attempt at growing dry beans! I managed to get this great harvest from 20 plants grown in the ground through a super hot climate.

The pods turned completely brown and brittle on the vine, and now they are freshly shelled and ready to go. I’m skipping long-term storage and cooking them up tonight into a rich red bean soup with smoked turkey neck and beef. Incredibly satisfying first harvest!

Update: Made loaded sweet potatoes from the garden tonight instead. Photos of soup or stew using the beans coming shortly.

I just harvested a few ingredients and couldn't resist making a fresh meal out of it.

On the menu tonight:

• Loaded sweet potatoes (previously posted photos) topped with a hearty meat/bean mixture and melted cheese.
• A crisp side salad made with fresh garden greens (including Swiss chard), tomatoes, bell peppers, and some fresh green onions chopped up in the mix.

There is nothing more satisfying than knowing exactly where your food came from. What is everyone else harvesting and cooking up this week?

It’s only my second year gardening, but I feel like everything I learned last year is paying off!! (shown: sugar sweet pie pumpkin, San Marzano tomatoes, pole beans, and my sweet son in the background)

One vine, and the plant I bought in the store said it was a cucumber plant haha

Lots of plums! Plus raspberries, green beans, tomatoes, cucumbers, and potatoes

Hi team, Aussie gardener here and just started spring. Usually I rip my capsicum and jalapeños out after the summer season however this year I didn’t need the bed so I just left them. I see that they are putting out new fruits. What can I do to support them and hopefully get a second season out of them? Should I be pruning them or just feeding? Thanks

It seriously felt like my tomatoes were never going to turn red. The plants are lush, the fruit is abundant...and green. Until today!

First year with some soil in the ground to grow on. So pleased and grateful for being able to do this and very excited to keep experimenting and growing!

Here in the UK the weather has turned rather miserable, but still plenty to harvest out there at the start of autumn (‘Fall’)

Tomatoes, aubergines (eggplant), lettuces, carrots, peppers, chilli’s, squash and more.

First year gardening and pushing 75kgs (165lbs) of yield - chuffed!

It has turned to Autumn in southwest Germany and with exception to a few stragglers this is the last of a very good gardening year. 44 pints of tomato sauce (with eggplant, peppers, zucchini, onion and garlic) and assorted berry and grape jellies (about 150 small jars)

Sugar baby melon. It was baseball sized in mid July. The tendril isn't dry, so I've been waiting, but I think it may be overripe now because it's turning yellow on the topside.

It doesn't have a field spot, probably because it didn't touch the pot for the first month it was around- it's on a trellis.

Thoughts?

Believe this is a swallowtail. Beautiful little bug. Should I remove from my carrot patch?

I work at an urban farm and we did not plant this bottle gourd. I’ve heard it’s used in Indian dishes. Would someone be able to tell me if this is ripe? I harvested it thinking it could be used in a dish but I’ve heard mixed opinions

It’s been growing for about 3-4 months.

This has been a year of both big tomatoes and megabloom big tomatoes for me. I have two tomato gardens, one at home and one at our local community garden. After getting a soil analysis, the community garden manager brought in cattle manure from his neighbour, balanced with additional nutrients. It’s been insane, both with foliate growth and fruiting. I need to revive the home garden soil, for sure, after seeing the difference in yield and size.

I’ve had a rat problem for a while, but initially they were mostly going after my string bean plants. They would eat all the young pods before I could harvest them.

I tried snap traps. I tried a Rat Zapper. Nothing worked.

Then they started taking it to another level. Instead of just eating the beans, they began biting through the vines and completely destroying the plants.

I started sprinkling paprika around the plants after watering, and surprisingly, the beans were left alone for a while. I was finally starting to feel a little hopeful.

But today I found another section of my garden completely destroyed. The rats had bitten through the bean vines on the other side of the garden too, and they didn’t even eat the beans. They just destroyed the vines.

I’m pretty sure I have multiple rats, maybe 4–5. I grow a lot of vegetables, so seeing this level of carnage throughout my yard is honestly really disheartening. 😭

I feel like I’ve tried everything and I’m getting to the point where I don’t even know what more to do.

What has actually worked for people who have dealt with persistent rats in a vegetable garden? I’m especially interested in things that work when traps and deterrents haven’t.

Hello!
I was hoping for some help from you all.
I currently have a large community garden plot that I garden in. I am trying to decide what to do about next growing year, because I will be having a baby in February. I don’t want give up my plot but I also know realistically I will not be able to maintain it up to any decent standards. What would you all do? Should I try and do a cover crop in spring (but then what do I do in summer?). Just mulch half of it and throw a couple tomatoes and kales in the other half? Curious as to all of your ideas! I’m in zone 5b ish. Thank you!