Things are winding down even more this month, but a few things are still going. I’m mostly waiting on winter squash, leeks, remaining beets and carrots, Lima beans, and parsnips! The parsnips are getting big but I’ve read that they get better after the first frost, so I’m not touching them.
Carrots
Carrot haul from the last few weeks of septemberLots of greensBuggy mess at the tops of some carrots!Hairy carrot
I’ve pulled up some carrots in the last month. These are a rainbow mix I direct sowed May 1. By coincidence mostly yellow ones are ready to be picked. So far they’re been mostly big and straight. I noticed a lot of ants around them, and a lot of little gray bugs around the tops that look like some kind of aphids. Regardless of the bug population they seem healthy root to leaf.
Tomatoes
Tomato haulMy tiny currant tomatoes still going strongTomato surplusDrying tomatoes
Tomatoes are still going strong! Slowing down a bit because temps are getting cooler at night, but I still get a few every time I visit the garden. Still having trouble with fruit splitting, but less since it has rained less and I’ve gone to water less often.
I tried drying tomatoes. It took at least 24 hours in the oven and they ended up bitter. Maybe I need to cut out the stem / core before I dry them. We’ll try again. At least the house smelled like roasted tomatoes for a few days.
Squash and cucumbers
Zuchini took a big nose dive and didn’t really recover from high heat and powdery mildew. Recently got some weird shaped romanesco squash. Gonna go ahead and say zuchini season is probably over.
Winter squash (butternut and honeynut) are still doing ok I don’t expect a large yield this year. I have hopes of getting one of each. Next year I need to start them earlier.
Etc
A few Lima beansBrussels sproutsGreensGreensBeetsBeetsPeppersPepper
I waited too long and this turned into a pretty long update. Weekly updates are much more manageable! This covers July and the beginning of August. I was gone for the first two weeks of July and a lot happened! I was so lucky to have watering help at the community garden, and rigged up a water timer for my yard garden.
Plant updates:
Tomatoes
They got a slow start but they’re doing great right now. The pink ping pong (ppp) variety I tried this year is really vigorous and productive so far, and the tomates really are slightly pink and ping pong ball sized! The San marzano romas are another new addition this year and they look pretty good. The ones in my yard are doing much better than the ones in the plot. Just one issue with bacterial spot, new to me. Haven’t done much to tackle it.
First Pink ping pong (ppp) tomato of the seasonPpps live up to their name!From left: cherry, ppp, and ppp tomatoes growing up the trellisPpp growing up the trellisSan marzano and ppp tomatoes in yard gardenFirst San marzano Roma tomato of the season!SM romas in the yard gardenTwo of my tomato plants got bacterial spot, one worse than the other. I was going to pull it out but I got lazy and now I’m letting it play out.
Zucchini- black beauty and costata romanesco
I came back from Ireland to find a zucchini monster in the form of the costata romanesco (cr) squash plant. It has grown massively and produces a ton of squash. I even got a double squash!! The smaller black beauty zucchini plant isn’t producing much fruit. I grew it up inside a tomato cage as an experiment to help it grow vertically rather than rambling on the ground. I think as a result the flowers are too close together and packed in with the leaves making it harder for pollinator to do their jobs? I’ve seen a lot of female blossoms that haven’t matured to fruit. Good to know. Also have powdery mildew again. I treated with Biofungicide. Should have pre-treated sooner.
I started these too early last year. I started them too late this year. I may get one or two fully developed squash this year. three of the four at least seem fairly healthy. The luffa is a weird dwarf plant for some reason and will definitely not produce useful gourds before season’s end.
Happy baby butternut!
Silver slicer cucumbers
Started out strong. Now getting weird pear shaped pale cucumbers and leaves are yellowing. Not a great cucumber year.
Peppers
I have lots of poblanos on deck. Not sure when they’re going to be ready, they’re still pretty wrinkly, but at the same time I have one turning red. First year growing these, we’ll see how it goes.
Yard poblanosPlot poblanosPlot poblanosPlot biquinhos (look very closely…)
Shallots, leeks
First year growing both. Pulled about half of the shallots, various sizes. They’re drying and curing. Leeks are just going slow and steady. Wondering if I should pile up soil around them as they continue to grow since when transplanting burying them deep was important for development.
First Zebruni shallotsLeeks in progress
Lettuce, chard, arugula, spinach
Not a great success for me. Chard is the only survivor at this point and seems to be happy in the low tunnel.
Spinach eatersLow tunnel explosion after being out of town for two weeks!Current low tunnel residents
Carrots, parsnips, and beets
So far so good. Mixed beet sizes, all delicious. First time growing parsnip, looks ok so far? Will have to investigate when to harvest soon.
Beet watcherBiggest beet!Beets become eatsFirst carrotsCarrotsParsnips
Brussels sprouts and cabbage
First year for both of these, and they both really thrived. In fact Brussels plant would be about 3 ft in diameter if left unchecked. Still waiting on the little sprouts to keep growing. Harvested my one perfect head of cabbage and made a big batch of charred cabbage soup!
Brussels sprouts leavesBebe Brussels sprouts
Plot:
Facing EastFacing north
Yard:
Fence garden and sophisticated auto watering systemJapanese beetles have settled in my marigolds of all places
Well, I harvested some radishes early this month and things escalated from there! A quick summary of what’s going on these days.
Preseason prep
The seed starting grow house is officially closed for the season!
Peak growhouse operation
This year I had no damping off issues like last year, I think in part because I treated all of my potting soil with an organic biofungicide (Bionide Revitalize Biofungicide). I bought it to treat powdery mildew on my squashy plants, but it works to pretreat soil for other fungus too. I also ran a fan regularly to keep air moving.
I grew the following from seeds started indoors or winter sown this year:
Basil (tulsi, Thai basil), rosemary, parsley, mint
Green onions, shallots, leeks
Nasturtiums, marigolds, zinnias (all mostly died mysteriously after transplanting), coreopsis, calendula, chamomile
Luffa, Honeynut, butternut
Cabbage, broccoli, Brussels sprouts
Peppers (poblano, biquinho)
Tomatoes (currant, cherry, pink ping pong, San marzano Roma)
Echinacea, poppies (winter sown)
Plot progress
East viewNorth view
In just the last 20 days a lot has happened in the plot!
The tunnel went nuts! Radishes, arugula, and spinach are all basically done (gone to seed). Arugula got flea beetles. They’re staying in as trap crops/ ground cover to keep some shade and moisture in for the remaining parsnips, beets, and carrots. Cabbage and broccoli are heavily competing for space. I had to give broccoli a trim to back off. Obviously planted them too closely.
Direct sown seeds – snap peas, Lima beans, string beans, zucchini, squash, luffa, and cucumbers all woke up eventually. I think this year I started the winter squash too late! Last year was too early. Next year, just right!
OH HAIL NO! We got a bad hail storm as late as last week (June 20th)! Luckily the plot suffered minimal damage but it could have been a blood bath.
Surprises – some volunteer flowers that I thought were going to be cosmos are rocket larkspur (striking purple flowers that the bees like). My inherited rhubarb went downhill and is very sad, and inherited asparagus got a few spears. Dill. Is. Everywhere.
Transplants are doing ok – two experimental sweet potato plants (started from slips) look quite sad, transplanted winter squash (from seed) looks pretty sad, probably got waterlogged, cabbage and broccoli (from seed) are crushing, poblano and biquinho peppers (from seed) look fine, nasturtiums (from seed) got some blossoms, tomatoes (from seed) look happy too. Last year nasturtiums didn’t do well for me.
PeasPeasCucumbersNasturtium and gnomePink ping pong tomato babesSad ‘Barb the rhubarbBrassica bros (cabbage and broccoli)Costata romanesco zukeShallotsRadishesFlea beetle’s favorite arugula snackSpinach over achieverAsparagusCalendula and marigolds (from seed)
Yard gard
I have a decent yard garden going on this year, somewhat in part because I started too many darn plants and even after giving away about half, still had some left. I’ve planted up my greenstalk vertical planter full this year and nasturtiums are absolutely taking over and thriving.
Monster pink ping pong tomatoesSan marzano tomatoesIs it a ladder or a plant display?PeppersNasturtium alert in the greenstalkHail prep. Turns out it was needed!
Also you might be thinking- what a nice fence! It was one of my spring projects:
I’ve got a makeshift low tunnel full of leafy things that don’t need pollinators. I’ve planted them there in hopes of providing a physical barrier for bugs. How is it going so far? Well…