I'm all in with this year's garden.

I planted the last of the melons Sunday, June 5 so the garden is all in but with this garden I'm also all in as poker players might say. I bought seeds and plants for this year as if I'd never be able to order by mail again. I put in 6 varieties of my favorite small fruit, blackberries. Also several blackberry (Rubus) relatives: Black,Red, and Yellow Raspberries, Loganberries, and Boysenberries; 6 varieties of Strawberries, 3 varieties of seedless Grapes, 4 varieties of Blueberries, plus Alba Rosa Rugosa, Giant Juneberries, Kadota Figs, and even northern adapted Tea plants.

I hope most of those plants like my garden but it's really the seeds that I'm experimenting with. I've purchased or traded for a wide variety of open pollinated seeds to test in my garden. I've expanded a bit on the 150 varieties mentioned below and have only planted a few plants of each because of my small garden. Everything was direct seeded this year as part of my 'tough love' approach. The weather has done its share in testing the plants with a cold, very wet April-May suddenly shifting to a hot, dry June. The game is on. I'll be reporting winners and losers as they happen. Ozark gardeners be assured: if it grows well in My Boston Mountains Garden it will grow well for you.

The first results are in. Tomatillos and Eggplants have never done well for me in this or previous gardens. This year is no exception. The few that germinated didn't grow. They are out; never again to waste my time. All nine peas got off to a good start. Alaska peas were the first to set pods by a few days but they also look to be the first to die, production was below average and so was taste. Favas are falling to black aphids. Both are out, 7 peas remain.