Can You Stand One More Trip Through The Garden?

My second planting of lettuce still looks good, 

but is becoming a titch on the bitter side.

 

The coloring on the strawberry plants 

could hardly be more in fitting with 

this beautiful fall season.

 

With all our rain the last couple of weeks,

these slicing cukes got away

from me.  These are so big they're

bitter tasting. 

 

I purchased a special packet of

colored gourd seeds that

promised a big variety of

different shaped and colored

gourds for my

decorating purposes.

 

Ninety-nine percent of them are

either this or the above shape.

(Yes, this one seems to be

growing upside down.)

 

Look at the mum sunflower that

just bloomed on one of

the stalks.

 

Our pumpkins are finally doing a

good job of turning orange.  

So far, names 

of four kiddles are

taped on ones they've picked

out for their own.

 

We're getting gorgeous red

peppers on our 

green pepper plants.

 

Last but not least, not in the

garden but cooling

on the back porch, is the 

first apple pie of the

season made with our

own apples. 

What's Growing Good . . . and What's Not

Doesn't look as though our blueberry bushes will give us a great crop this year, but we'll be appreciative of what we do get.  The bushes did get a severe (and much needed) pruning this spring so that may account for the smaller crop.

 

The haskap berries should be picked any day now.  We've been taste-testing them, and they've definitely gotten sweeter (okay, less sour) than when we first tried them a week or so ago.  Good thing they make a wonderful jam.

 

The pretty green crinkly stuff on the right is Wasabina Mustard Greens and the reddish row on the left is Scarlet Frill.  They're both salad "greens" and really add zing to our salads plus a whole bunch of minerals and vitamins.

 

And then there are my two pathetic rows (under the strings) of dill which have both been planted (replanted) a couple of times.  Oh, if I could just get enough fresh dill for making my dill pickles.  Is that too much to ask?

 

My little patch of Swiss chard is looking good.

 

Beets came up very spotty.  You probably can't tell that because of the leaves covering the bare spots now.  I planted more in another bed but they're currently only about 2" tall.

 

The storage onions are looking hale and hardy.

 

What the heck happened to my carrots?  They took so long to sprout that I almost replanted them.  Probably should have by the looks of what's growing.  Last year I had such a good crop that I'm just now using the very last of them.  This year I'm pretty sure I'll be purchasing carrots for most of the year. 

 

I like to grow colored gourds to use for decorating in the fall.  Our weather has been so cool that these guys haven't done much yet.  (The Blue Salvia in the lower left hand corner of the picture have yet to bloom.)

 

Same with the pie pumpkins.  They'll have to put on a growth spurt soon or they won't have a chance of maturing.

 

I think the lack of warm weather has hindered the growth of my bush beans.  These are the green ones and don't have much of a "bushy" look thus far.  The yellow ones are a bit farther along.

 

This is my first lily to bloom.  I should really say "our" first lily because my daughter loves lilies.  I've never been crazy about them, but she's trying to convert me.

 

I do have to admit that I'm eager to see what this particular lily will look like when it blooms.  It has twelve buds on it! 

I'm Just . . .

 Tired.  And I know all of you who are serious gardeners are probably feeling the same way.

Once the harvest starts (yes, this is the wonderful harvest we've all hoped and worked for all season long), it seems there may never (such dramatics) be an end to it.  When one crop is picked, processed and tucked away for the next many months of feeding the family, another one is not-so-patiently waiting for you to get busy with it.

My garden seems to look more unkempt each day as I can't find the time (or oompf) to pull he spent plants and clean up the bed or area in the field garden or berry patch that is done for the season.

Our unusually high temperatures of this summer have dropped a bit and nights are already cooling off the way they do as we creep closer to our glorious fall weather.  But, strangely, the humidity has stayed in the triple digits (okay, that's an exaggeration) which makes one feel unpleasantly . . . well, cool and clammy most of the time.

My garlic is pulled and hanging to cure.  (Go away humidity, bring on the dry air, please.)  Onions, for some reason, aren't sizing up this year.  Usually, I have no problem growing a year's supply (and more) but this year, not so much.

Papa Pea came out to the garden with me with spading fork in hand a few days ago to dig a sampling of potatoes as I'd run out of the ones purchased at our local food co-op.  (The 5 pound bag was $9.99.  Can you see why I decided to start digging ours?)  We dug under just one plant and found about three pounds of medium to small-sized red taters.  They were delicious.

My Red Kuri winter squash is turning from pale yellow-green to a deep yellow.  They need to make it to a deep red-orange before they are mature.

Pumpkins, both jack-o'-lantern and pie, are plentiful but still showing no color other than their unripe green.

Our domestic blueberries that started ripening early this year are winding down now.  We picked three and a half quarts yesterday, and we have only three or four large bushes of one variety that still have a good quantity of berries yet to ripen on them.  The end is near.

I'm not sure where this post was/is going, perhaps only a record for me as to what's happening in the garden at this date in the month of August.  Plus, I promised myself I was going to spend only 30 minutes here at the computer this morning before getting on with my list.  (You know, getting on to those 23 items that are at the top of The Priority List.)  And guess what?  I've already gone one hour and 12 minutes over my intended 30 minutes.  Whoa down, day, I'll never catch up at this rate!

Oh, The Bounty!

More preserving done yesterday.  Another bountiful picking of shell peas that are now tucked into the freezer to join the first ones put by a couple of days ago.

I also got another dehydrator full of mint processed.  Seems the mint isn't growing back as quickly (after I make a harvest) this year as it usually does so I'm not sure I'll reach the same quantity I got last year.  There's still a lot of growing and harvesting time left for it though so I won't panic yet.

I dump a couple of trays of the dried mint leaves onto a sheet of wax paper and use the heels of my hands to crush it up a bit.  Then it goes into 1/2 gallon jars with a canning lid for storage.

I'm fairly sure there will be a good quantity of beans to harvest and process today.  They're an easy vegetable for me to grow, pick and process, and I always have more than enough for a year's supply.  Yesterday I got word of someone whose beans didn't germinate this year and who would be happy to take any of my surplus.  If the crop this year is anything like it normally is I'll have an overflow amount to send her.  She also said she'll take any and all zucchinis I have.  What a deal!

These are my bush sunflowers, a new variety I tried this year.  Although I didn't get good germination from the seeds I planted, the plants surviving do look robust, although not as "bushy" as I had thought they would be.  I can hardly wait to see what the flowers look like.

So, so close to having slicing cukes big enough to harvest!

The green peppers are coming along nicely, too.

Our honey bees are working the pie pumpkin blossoms like . . . well, busy little bees this morning.

Okay, time for me to get on with the day.  "Tis the time of year when the garden can't be ignored, not even for a day.  And for that I'm very, very thankful!

Thunder Boomers During The Night

And lots of lightning, too!  But the rain collected in the rain gauge this morning was just under one full inch so the loss of sleep was well worth it.

I took a walk through the drippy garden first thing this morning, and I would swear (but only with pretend words, none of the hard stuff) some things have grown 6" since yesterday.

My broccoli is getting close to being ready to harvest.  Gotta watch it carefully because the heads can go from not-quite-big-enough to separated and past prime in a snap.  As you can see, the same insect (I'm calling them flea beetles although I'm not sure that's what they are) that has been feasting on many leaves in the garden this year hasn't avoided the broccoli leaves.

I don't think we've ever had such lush potato foliage as this year.  Sure hoping this means lots of big, ol' taters underneath.

Aren't potato blossoms lovely?

I just may have found something that will willingly climb up and over the hoop trellis I have on one of the raised beds.  Scarlet Runner Beans!  I'm thinking the vines should be bigger (as in taller and farther up the trellis) by now but because of our cold spring/early summer I had to replant about 50% of them.

The three haskap bushes have been stripped of all their berries which are now in the form of 10 pints of luscious syrup and 8 pints of lovely jam.  And also 3 gallon bags fresh frozen for use in smoothies and another bag destined for a pie requested by Papa Pea.  I'm hoping this supply will last us two years because next year all the berries are going toward . . . WINE!

The blueberry bushes are showing more berries (albeit green yet) than I had expected to see this year.  Upon close inspection yesterday, I found only one single, teeny-tiny growth of the dreaded Witch's Broom that has been plaguing them.  Although we may not be out of the woods on this one yet, as of now I'm scoring one for our side.

The rain drops are still coming down in slow fashion now at mid-afternoon so all this moisture is invaluable for the health and growth of the garden.  And golly-gosh, did we need it!

End of Summer Thoughts

Somewhere around the middle of August, our nights here in northern Minnesota start to be noticeably cooler.  In the late afternoon/early evening when we go outside to put away tools, protect on-going, unfinished projects and cover equipment we've been working on or used during the day, it usually causes one of us to comment that there's an autumnal feeling to the air.

Scarlet Runner Beans completely

covering garden trellis.

This can also fuel a feeling of mild panic as we realize our season of being able to work outside comfortably is, once again, coming to an end more quickly than we wish.

Forono beets ready to escape.

But it's not all bad.  All of a sudden I find myself thinking of and yearning for the comfort foods of the cold, crisp days of autumn and winter.

L.A., these are from the Winter Luxury Pie Pumpkin

seeds you sent me.  They are huge!

Oven meals, thick soups, casseroles, potatoes and gravy, baked squash, apple pie.  In less than two months, darkness will be falling at 5 p.m.  forcing us to wind down for the evening earlier than in the height of summer when dusk doesn't come until 9:30 or 10 p.m.  (Yes, we do work hard during our short summer season, but it keeps our muscles from atrophying and melts off the previous winter's hibernation blubber.)

Good, old marigolds.  Can hardly

beat them for blossoms and color.

Our fall rains have now started along with super-heavy dew (even after bright, sunshiny days) overnight that require rubber boots for any outside venture for the first couple hours of each day.

 This grain covering the field garden

 is standing nearly three feet tall.

The grain seeds we planted in our field garden as a green manure crop to be plowed under (soon now, very soon) have grown lush, high and healthy.  Not having this space to plant in this year has meant less garden work through the season and also less to harvest.

 Red cabbage perfection.

We're going to be having to secure potatoes and carrots from somewhere off ye ol' homestead for the first time in I-don't-know-long.  Among other things, no room this year for Brussels sprouts either, but even though we both like them, we'll just do without for this one year.

These aster's long stems

have given me bountiful bouquets

this summer.

Purposefully cutting back on the garden this year has given me personally more time to pursue my individual interests, and I know I've benefited from that time.  Still, I feel that I've somehow fallen short in my responsibility of providing as much food from this growing season as I normally do.  But it's not the end of the world that I did so, if I acknowledge there have been gains.

 Oh, all the nutrition those dark, leafy 

Swiss chard leaves give us.

Next year the field garden and two other small areas in which we've been building up the soil will be in production.

Plus, the crew of six I'm lining up for next season to help around here (I wish) will alleviate my work load so I'll still have time to pursue my creative outlets.  

Tiptoe Through the Tulips . . . Ooops, I Mean Garden

Here's an overview of the raised beds (for you, Michelle) taken from a second floor window this morning.  Empty bed front middle row was all radishes.  All gone now.

Down on the ground and out tritzing through the heavy dew, here is one of the bean rows.  Since the field garden is fallow this year (where I usually plant all the beans), I used one of the raised beds for an 8' row of green beans and another bed for 8' of yellow beans.  No sense raising more than we can use or give away, so these are adequate.

Don't know if the Morning Glories planted at the base of this tepee trellis will ever grow big.  They are as s-l-o-w as molasses in January this year.

I planted pie pumpkins in the middle of this raised bed hoping I could convince them to climb up and over the hoop trellis.  There are finally some vines starting to run, but they look like they're trying to escape the bed all together.  I'm going to have to have a talk with them about using this fine trellis I've provided for them.

The shell peas are planted on either side of 40' of cattle panels for their trellis.  Not as much growth on them as I'd hoped to see by now.

A couple of years ago Papa Pea made a few shade cloth covers like the one on this bed over the spinach and Swiss chard.  I'm hoping to keep them going longer into the season by blocking some of the too bright sunlight.  The Swiss chard would probably be okay without the shade cloth cover but the spinach would not.

The scarlet runner beans are planted at the base of this garden trellis and they've finally taken off climbing.

There are colored gourds planted on either side of the trellis down the center of this raised bed.  I didn't think they were ever going to germinate.  (Too cold, I think.)  If our fall weather holds out (and doesn't frost early), I may yet get some decorative gourds from them.

My onions are kinda scary this year.  Most of them are now 3' tall!  I can only cross my fingers that all their energy hasn't gone to the tops and left none for the bulbs.

The green and colored pepper plants are starting to size up and even have blossoms on them.  One plant never got any bigger than when I transplanted it and eventually died.  The rest are looking good though.

That's a partial tour through the raised beds.  We got an inch of rain yesterday and it really gave the plants a shot in the arm.  Real rain does them so much more good than all the watering I can do.  With our now very summer time like weather, things were really drying out so we were glad to get the rain.  Now if this humidity (gasp, gasp) would just go away . . .