Bolting Pak Choi :( and More Positive Progress

This post is from July 20th

This was our first year growing pak choi after my brother recommended it saying it was a very easy veggie to grow.  Unfortunately things did not go as planned, before the plant developed hearty stalks I noticed small yellow flowers and before I new it, the plants had fully bolted.  After doing some research I have learned that it does not like the heat.  I didn't think it had been that warm here but perhaps it was too hot in the green house where the seedlings were grown.  I will probably try these again next year from seed.  You can also see the progress on the broccoli and brussel sprouts in this picture.  The broccoli is growing very rapidly with large leaves.  There is one brussel spout plant which is growing much faster than the other three.  I don't think I'll be able to keep all four so I am ok with this.

The cucumbers have finally grown some true leaves.  The smooth oval leaves are the baby leaves and the rougher looking leaves are the true leaves.  I currently have four of these but will be giving some of these to friends as well.  Last year we grew just one cucumber plant and it produced quite a bit before succumbing to cucumber beetle.   Now that we know what to look for we will be more diligent about those little guys.

 The lettuces are coming along nicely.  I'm thinking we will have some green leaf lettuce for a salad this week :).

Banana peppers are also starting to fruit (below right).  We have planted several types of peppers this year.  Cherry bomb (you can see the growth of our first one of these below left), cajun bell, cayenne, banana, habenero and sweet bell.  Unfortunately we couldn't find any jalepeno starter plants.  We grew jalepeno last year and they were brilliant, producing all summer long.  They were great in a salsa fresh or grilled in fajitas or so many more uses.  We are sad we don't have any of these but will keep looking.

Our tomato plants have been putting most of their energy into growing big and strong.  We do have a couple tiny grape tomatoes starting to form :). This year I am trying the single stem approach to tomatoes.  Whenever I see a sucker growing I pinch it off, this is supposed to allow more energy into the one stem which will produce healthier bigger tomatoes (hope so!)

My seedlings are coming along.  The carrots have finally broken through and the radishes are ready to be thinned.  The beets will also have to be thinned but not yet.  Still no sign of the parsnips.