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Ah...those figs look lovely!

Picked a bunch of green beans. Also, finally have squash but am not entirely sure if they are fat pale zucchini or not yet ready spaghetti squash. Will continue to watch them. Also, picked a few patty pan squash. No sign of cucumbers yet.... I think there is a stray acorn squash plant in there too from last years accidental garden. At least, they look like baby acorn squash.

I am finally eating tomatoes !!!! Best, Gail

And we are, too--finally, finally! They seem like the best tomatoes we've ever tasted...as the first tomatoes usually do! You know, I think food must have tasted better to people back when you could only get things in season.

We also picked some beans--these are pole beans that are a foot long and slender. Very delicate in flavor and nice. I hope they start producing more later in the season--right now it's just a handful at a time.

And it's really officially summer now, as we ate our first sweet corn. Not from the garden but from a roadside stand. Wow, it was good! I don't bother to grow sweet corn any more because you can get it fresh-picked on the streetcorners here all summer.

Now I am watching those still-green roma tomatoes and thinking ahead to my sauce-making. August may be busy around here!

AnnaS, I am also eating tender foot long pole beans, as well as green bush beans and yellow wax beans. Yesterday I gourged myself on a three bean salad all day...what a treat. (Actually, it was a 5 bean salad- I added canned black beans and garbanzos.) And, I included some sun gold cherry tomatoes. It doesn't get any better ! Best, Gail

Lala your figs look beautiful. Does anyone know if fig trees will grow in St. Louis? I grew up in Houston and we had figs there. I am here now, and I can grow certain things not officially in my zone. I have beautiful Crape Myrtles here, they just bloom later. I bought large tomato plants and we have had tomatoes since around the 4th of July.

Three different times, we lived in the St. Louis, MO, area. When we lived in the Bellefonatine Neighbors area, friends down our then country road, grew--and shared with us-- the biggest, tastiest, most flavorful, reddest, most beautiful tomatoes I have ever eaten in my life.

That was in the 70's, and I still compare every tomato I eat to those, that were the BEST ever! My step-father came from Los Angeles to visit us there on two separate occasions, and each morning he walked down the lane to purchase his "day's supply" of tomatoes from our gardener friend. He also spoke of those tomatoes all through the years until he passed away. I have no idea what made those MO tomatoes so much better than any I have ever had, but I sure would enjoy one right now!!!

I lived in north AL, just below the TN state line off and on for several years. I remember how surprised I was to discover fig trees in the area. I had just never even thought about fig trees growing or where they grew until I saw those. All my figs prior to that had come dried from the market in boxes or packages.

A daughter of mine, in South AL, also has fig trees. YUM!

I've always thought it would be great to live in zone 6--alas, my husband's work keeps us in zone 5!

I found an answer to your question on the University of Missouri Extension website:
http://extension.missouri.edu/xplor/qa/horticulture0014.htm
(scroll partway down for fig question)
As you see, they do need protection in the winter there but if you were willing to do that you might succeed. I remember reading in old English garden books about how to wrap fig trees for the winter, so I think they have the same challenge in parts of England.

Also in Googling around I saw that Missouri has some commercial growers producing figs in large hoop houses...so at the very least, you might be able to buy locally grown figs in Missouri!

Thank You Anna!! I will have to become more familiar with that site. It looks like some other useful information is on there too. Someone actually had the exact question I did.

It is a nice climate here, except for winter which is COLD, but I guess that is relative. We recently started taking our vacation in February and that is really a nice time to get away.

I just might have to give the fig tree a try. Now I know what variety to get. I'm glad you googled whatever words you picked because I might have gotten a less hearty variety. I don't know one from another.

Marjorie

Hi Clary, I just remember when I was little we had a couple of fig trees in our back yard. As I recall they were kind of more like bushes. I wonder if I'm remembering that right!

I just picked about 7 beautiful tomatoes from our plants tonight. We used to love to have a meal of tomatoes and corn during the summer. We haven't done that since I gave up butter. I'm sure the corn tastes good without it when it is real sweet. Maybe just s little salt and pepper.

Now I'm hungry!

Marjorie