Late Summer Veggie Garden Pt 3 & Fall Veggie Gardens (Pt 2)

Home grown garden tomatoes are usually well received.

I just told them, "They don't look good, but they taste great!" They were very well received and now people are asking for more. LOL

Yes, see I told you. That is why I have to grow so many. People want more once they get some.

Straight Eight Cucumbers, Burpless Cucumbers. Tomatoes.

Yummy!!

Yes, when the tomatoes start to come on ripe the first few weeks of the season I am picking tubs and tubs full. It does take a while to get them all. They have finially slowed down some but I have lost track of how much I have picked.

My friends were getting tomatoes by the boxes.

Eggplants and squash. Second picture my yellow and purple pole beans.

I was complaining some time back that I didn't think I was getting enough cucumber production. Ha! not now. I picked tomatoes and cucumbers but I am over run with cucumbers.

I was gifted with some turmeric rhizomes from Korea today (very much alive and growing). For a tropical plant, several folks locally are reporting that it will survive through the winter here in the ground. The farm worker at our local A&M who gave me the plant said that a late frost would severely damage them though.

The plants look like bananas, or cannas. I put it in a big pot to recuperate from banging around in my car half the day and than means it will no doubt be living indoors this fall, but come spring, I need to find a sunny spot with midday shade, sheltered from the worst of the winter cold and somewhere that stays fairly moist.

Arg. That's just about what we need for everything here!

Nicole, how lucky! Turmeric is delicious, and good for you - both inside and out. (Indian women use turmeric as a face mask, too.)

Fall is happening in a few weeks. How's everyone's progress coming along?

Earlier this week (8/20/13) I topped off a 3'x10' RB with a mixture of pine bark fines, Perlite, and various old container potting mixes. I watered it well, then covered it with some dark plastic to keep the roaming kittens out.

Saturday (8/24/13), I dug out the empty half of the 4'x8' RB that my spring bell peppers are planted in. The peppers never took off in this bed, and produced very little fruits (small, small). I was concerned about the drainage, so I dug out about 10-12" of a mixture of sand and garden soil. It was heavy with sand. I dumped the medium on a tarp and mixed in an 18-gallon Rubbermaid tub full of pine bark fines, and enough Perlite to fluff it up. It was certainly lighter when it went back into the bed! I used a 6' fence picked to "screed" the surface of both beds, and this worked like a charm to level them off. I could never level them before I learned this trick! I covered the half of the 2nd bed with plastic as well, and we got some rain yesterday.

Last weekend I had started cutting down the bells growing in the other half of the bed, but I had never pulled them out. They stand about 12" tall, and I noticed that they've started growing again, faster and sturdier than they were at 18-24"! Go figure. Also, they're putting on blooms, and fruit is coming on quickly. Maybe they just needed a fresh start. I hope we have enough heat left in the next couple weeks, cause I've got to dig out and refresh the other half of that bed!

Still haven't dropped a seed yet, but, I'll get some going this long holiday weekend.

Linda

Fall is a dream. It's going to be 100º + this week. Summer's back in full force! "We" are working on expanding the garden and it's slow going. Need to prod "we" back into getting it finished so I can plant more stuff.

Here's what my eggplants are still doing...

Looks great!

Picked small tomatoes again, you know the Juliet Grape tomatoes and the Sweet Million Cherry tomatoes. Also had a nice batch of various eggplants. And the usual glut of cucumbers. Nothing wasted though. I was able to give away the excess cucumbers and eggplants.

I did see two female blossoms on my squashes today. Along with the usual tons of male blossoms.

My carrot haul! Not a ton of them but enough for me for a few months! Already blanched and in the freezer. "Nantes".

Those are beauties! Congratulations on a great haul!

Fabulous carrotts!

some butternut squash, tomatoes, apples and pears...plus some peas, lettuce and cilantro recently planted...

Looking good!

Thanks ladies!

Time for the first squash harvest; this is about 75%

The death toll from pickleworm was truly awful this year with the butternuts. Something hopping the fence and gnawing on some didn't help, and neither did the ones rotting due to too much rain and the usual squash bug devastation. But this is enough for the winter with a few to share.

The ones that look like pumpkins are "Upper Ground Sweet Potato" -- the garden gloves are for scale. That monster in the middle is 43 lbs. *Zero* pest or disease issues with this variety, but what the heck will I do with a 43 lb. squash?!

Squash casseroles, mock sweet potato pies, cube and add to winter soups, etc., etc.

I'm guessing the big one probably isn't good eating. The big ones usually aren't except for the seeds. Maybe I'm doing a jack-o-lantern this year, although I've always considered them a waste of good vegetable.

If I did try to process it, that would be about 7 quarts, I think, unless the meat is a whole lot thicker than the typical "pumpkin."

Everything looks great!!

Okay, I broke down the big one and ended up with 16 pounds (8.5 quarts) of drained mashed squash. It isn't stringy at all like most big ones, but is all edible. The flesh is pretty thick.

Lots of pears and tomatoes , all right for a backyard .
You all still make me hungry
Black Krim and Asian pears

Here's my little harvest for today. Surprised I'm getting anything considering the hot, hot temps we've been having lately, several cherry tomatoes and a couple of very small jalapenos. Also, a shot of my fall cucumbers. We put the panel up in front of the cukes because they will grow towards the sun. We've grown them with the panel on the opposite side a couple of years and it just didn't work out well. National Pickling in the front and Munchers in the far back of the pic.

Oh my on everyones harvest!

This might be the last of the eggplant harvest. This is the fourth batch, and they're slowing down. And, I'm tired of processing them, LOL!

Pic #1 Pot Black Eggplants, picked at their prime. Notice how shiny they are. They range from ping pong ball to cutie oranges in size, and do well in containers.

Pic #2 Pot Black Eggplants that have started going dull from being on the vine past their prime. These may be a tad bitter

Pic #3 Listada de Gandia Eggplants way past prime. Notice how dull they are. Some are even turning yellow. The ones with the darkest stripes are probably the freshest of the lot.


This message was edited Sep 3, 2013 9:13 PM

A lot of eggplant you have there.

I thought I could keep summer squash going till the end of September but that is looking less and less likely every day. Yesterday I pulled and tossed three, today pulled and tossed two. They look so ratty from the powdery mildew that I am sure more will follow. But I pulled due to the fact these showed the typical wilt that comes from SVB. Just don't feel like fussing with the squash plants like I do earlier in the season. Plus the stems on the gone ones were so anemic, not then nice green they should be at all.

Picked my last Sugar Cube melon today and the melon vines look done on and done. Doesn't look like I am going to be getting any fruit from those Sweet Sakura melons I planted.

The Camilla cuke vines are totally done. I picked the last of the Camillas today and probably the last of the Straight Eights as well. That entire larger trellis section is done for and needs to come out.

The Burpless on the short trellis thought are still going strong. Those are amazing.

I took pics but they are in the camera and will not be downloading today.

Today, I'm going to pull all of the summer veggie stuff, with 3 exceptions. The field peas are still going strong. The Chinese Red Noodle and the Thai Purple Podded Yard Long Beans are still producing, as well as the habanero peppers. All the other beds are being prepped for fall/winter veggies.

Oh, I forgot about the bed of sweet potatoes. I need to dig around in there & see how big they've gotten to try to determine when to dig them up.

Jo-Ann

Dang pickleworm! We are definitely having a second generation of them this year. I went out to check on my remaining butternuts, and the suckers had hit nearly all of them in the last week. Also some trouble with some damage at the vine end that I haven't seen before. Looks like nibbling, but it's very swallow and no obvious teeth signs. There's a raccoon that raids my garden but he's pretty about just taking the whole thing or eating a lot; I don't think he did this. This weekend I will have to pull out the vines.

My Upper Ground Sweet Potato gifted me with another 10+ lb. squash and there's one the looks to be about 15 pounds turning orange.

Tomatoes are about played out; I have maybe another week or two of harvest in them. The late blight has hit them hard this year. I hung up most of the basil to dry today. Peppers are still coming in good, Jackpot, Orange Bell and two kinds of banana peppers. My orange bells are actually turning orange with almost no loss to rot; good taste, too. Problem is, they are not sizing up until they start to turn orange, and the boy won't eat the colored ones. I'd like a pepper that gets to a good size while green. California Wonder is finally trying to produce some fruit, but they are so small I doubt that they will get to a decent eating size before frost. My search for an open pollinated bell that does well in the South continues. It may not exist; bananas are more traditional here.

I have no idea when yo harvest peanuts, but the plants look wonderful.

Peas are starting to come in and the cabbage is looking well. Lettuce is up; spinach not yet. Kohrabi, carrots, turnips and beets should be up but aren't. I never have luck with beets and carrots here, but the kohlrabi and turnips usually do well.

Leaves are starting to change, the birds and hummers are absolutely stuffing their faces and we are without a doubt into fall here. That's several weeks early for us. It does not bode well for the winter. I haven't seen any squirrels making caches but the mast hasn't matured yet so they don't really have anything to store yet.

Nicole, I would let the peanuts go until the leaves turn yellow or frost is about to get them.

Thanks, Indy. The local farmers are pulling peanuts now, so I wasn't sure.

It's very quiet in here.

Not much has changed for me. Cabbage still growing well, although I had to spray with BT today because some were taking serious damage. Half my pea plants has also up and died.

It's going to be mid 50's tonight - gasp! - so some of the fall stuff will definitely get a boost!

Planted some baby spinach seeds and collard seeds. Yanked the last Patio tomato plant out.

Sniff.......

My long beans, Chinese Red Noodle and Thai #3, are finally played out. So those got pulled up & removed from the trellises. I just left the vines on top of the beds. They'll sit for a week or so & then I'll put in some fall peas.

Going to dig some sweet potatoes today.

Jo-Ann

Finally!

Arcadia Broccoli, Snowball & Improved Cauliflower, EJW Cabbage. Sowed 9/16/13.

More to come.