Here it is August 27! I can't believe it's been over a month since I wrote on this blog. Soooooo much has of course happened in the garden since my last post in July. The garlic and onions have been harvested, and a row of new seedlings now occupy the old onion bed. The cucumbers and beans have flourished and are already on the decline. The corn is tall, not too many ears, but tonight I ate the first ear--good tasting although one side was missing several kernels, meaning incomplete pollination. Pumpkins are growing--I think I've counted about 7 nice sized pie pumpkins, most of which are already orange, and a couple of little ones. But I think that's all that will grow because the new pumpkin flowers have LOTS of bugs! Lots of cucumbers, but I cut one last week, which wasn't at all ripe, so I'm waiting on the rest---I read that the area where the stem meets the melon should turn brown and crusty looking instead of soft and green. I'm excited to say there are 3 watermelons...not quite ripe, I think. The apples almost ripened, but were grabbed up by the campers very quickly. I cut back the gangly spreading all over lemon balm---I think I need to get it out of the garden and grow it around the stump like the other mints. I also cut back the huge tarragon bush and the dill that was going to seed. And the tomatoes are now coming. They got stalled during the cool weather of late July and early August, but are ripening quickly now in the 90 degree heat. And I'm thrilled to say that the newly planted cilantro is growing at just the right time for tomatoes (used lots of both in the salsa class I taught yesterday---we picked the tomatoes and salsa, and also basil for pesto, in the garden, and then went down to the Anderson Center to make the salsa and pesto. 16 students. ) Earlier this week I finally got the strawberry runners cut back and the older withered leaves pulled off---long overdue care of the strawberry bed. We've had a small crop of grapes, now done, and the raspberries have zillions of unripe berries, but only a few ripen each day. And that's a month's worth of garden news. Now for some photos:
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| Garlic pulled and ready to hang! |
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| Cucumber and corn growing fast |
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| Paths around asparagus all weeded and woodchipped |
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| Cantaloupe and watermelon patch |
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| Lemon balm cut down |
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| Tall corn! |
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| Cucumbers! Two batches of pickles made. |
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| Lots of cantaloupes, slow to ripen, vines dying, maybe too much watering |
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| 7 pumpkins! |
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| The garden from the south end, starting with the pumpkin patch |
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| The garden from the north end, starting with the strawberry patch |
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| Tomato press from mary Kirby...so cool...makes sauce before cooking, separates out the seeds and skins. Then I boiled it down about halfway and froze several pkgs. |
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| Radishes |
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| Cilantro. So happy that this second planting is well timed with the tomatoes ripening. Used it in salsa making class this week. |
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| Finally cut the strawberry runners..patch looks so tidy now! |
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| Tomatoes finally ripening, rapidly in this 90+ degree F heat. |
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New plantings (in previous onion bed). Cilantro, parseley, basil, radish, red beet, sunflowers.
Red cabbage and zinnias did not come up. |
An invasion of bugs on pumpkin flowers!
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