Pictures Around Blackberry Homestead

Posted on by Julia

July 8, 2026

On June 26, I took a lot of pictures of the vegetable garden as looked it over.

The bee bums’ pictures are back!

Bees in Squash Blossoms

Tomatoes look great.

Basil photo bombing pic
Part of the Tomato Jungle
Tomatoes and Sweet Potatoes
Tomatoes, Sweet Potatoes, Squash and Eggplants

I love the squash blossoms.

The watermelon is getting bigger.

The okra flowers are beautiful. Maybe next year, I’ll plant some in front.

The asparagus is growing well.

The radishes growing at the edge of the bed have bloomed and some have gone to seed. They are also full of harlequin bugs. They made a great trap crop, I was able to drop the harlequin bugs in soapy water.

Harlequin Bug
Lady Bug

With the peas gone, I’ve planted this bed with cucumbers and pole beans today. They are planted underneath the trellis. I’ll need to figure out what to plant on either side of the trellis.

The alpine strawberries are beautiful mounding plants.

We haven’t put the cart of dirt back into the potato bed yet. I am not sure what I am going to grow. Maybe more dried beans?

Formerly the Potato Bed

The dried bean varieties have started dying back, with the bean pods drying out.

The soybeans are ready to be harvested.

The caper berry bush had another bloom.

When I went inside, I took a picture of the rubber boots, or gum boots as Bruce calls them. We bought two pairs yesterday at Walmart. I labeled mine so we could tell them apart.

My Rubber Boots

The pair of rubber boots takes me back to my childhood. If I wasn’t running around barefoot, I had rubber boots on. The boots were all lined up in the utility room. Dad had shorter green ones, and the rest of us had black ones.

25 thoughts on “Pictures Around Blackberry Homestead”

  4. Such a fun and interesting post! Your gardening is so impressive, and I cannot get over how beautiful the blooms are on the veggies and berries. I had Walmart wellies stashed at my folks’ house when I was having to go often to help out. Mucking out stalls and throwing hay needed more than tennis shoes! I like the ones I get at Tractor Supply now, for when I mow or do outside work.

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    1. I didn’t realize Tractor Supply carried rubber boots. I find it amusing that Tractor Supply doesn’t carry tractors. I enjoy looking around in Tractor Supply, but I don’t look at the clothing section.

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      1. I liked their boots as they were taller, and had a real arch built in, with steel toe. That was especially helpful in Texas where I might encounter a rattlesnake in the pasture. They come in plain navy blue, or even some with flowers on them, but they are not the re-enforced toes. I have both kinds, depending on what I am going to be working on and how much protection I need. I always thought it was funny they had nothing related to tractors other than supplies you might use to fix one!

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    1. I was amazed by the beauty of the caper flowers the first time I saw then. The flowers smell divine.
      So many tomatoes!
      I like how attractive the variety of okra I am growing is. The red stems and leaves are nice to look at, łthe okra fruit is also red, and it is compact. I’d have to look up the name.

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      1. I hope the flowers on my okra are as pretty as yours. I didn’t take note of the variety. I was thinking it might have purple flowers, but it has been quite a while since I saw it growing anywhere.

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      3. I may be wrong about the color. I have only grown okra one other time and that was several years ago. I saw it in a friend’s garden and liked the large impressive plants. I will let you know as soon as the first bloom comes out, and I will look for the seed packet to see what variety it is. I got so busy when planting that I did things kinda haphazardly. I’m usually better organized.

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Published by Julia

I am a retired software solutions architect. I have been married to my husband, Bruce, for over forty years. We went full-time RVing for 3.5 years and saw much of the United States. We bought a ranch house on a hill in the middle of five acres. We are working on creating our homestead. I love cooking and enjoy sharing recipes. I am also an artist and I’ll share my current projects. Reading is my favorite hobby.