The summer garden is winding down and yielding a few things here and there. This year I actually did plant some fall crops, maybe not as early as I should have. The hot dry, weather in August didn’t seem like the ideal conditions for starting radish and spinach seeds, but I did anyway. They are starting to put on some growth now with the recent rain and cooler weather. However, the squash and cucumbers are not liking the 50°F night-time temperatures, and also beleaguered with PM and bacterial wilt, are starting to shut down, capping a really lousy year for the cucurbits.
The beans are just about done except for a few stragglers here and there. The Dunja zucchini and Tromboncino squash are still alive enough to put out a squash or two a week but won’t last much longer. The tomatoes are ripening up their last fruit. Most of the plants have survived relatively disease-free and are showing some new growth, but they are doomed by the weather and the shortening day length. At this northern latitude, the sun is dropping lower in the sky each day and its strength is tangibly decreasing.
The peppers, while not liking the cold nights, are holding their own, with new growth and flowers. The Jimmy Nardello peppers are ripening the last of the mature fruit while still flowering and setting new fruit. My Padron peppers are starting to produce again. And the Aconcagua peppers (the long, skinny one above), a Cubanelle-type heirloom from Argentina, are now starting to produce heavily. Even my one Fish pepper has set a few of its variegated fruit and is flowering extensively. Both the Aconcagua and Fish peppers are known as late-season producers so it is a gamble to grow them here.
That’s all from the garden last week. To see what other gardeners around the world are harvesting, head to Daphne's Dandelions, our host for Harvest Monday.
A great looking week. Fall is coming soon!! I can't believe that only two weeks ago I was still complaining about 95 degree days and now our forecast has the first night down in the 40's this week. Frost will be coming soon!!
ReplyDeleteWhat you harvested this week looks good! My squash sounds like it's about at the point yours is. We are all singing the same song this week, the garden is winding down! Except of course for our friends in the southern hemisphere!
ReplyDeleteNice harvests! That is one interesting squash you have there.
ReplyDeleteLove that serpentine Tromboncino! It is amazing how peppers can linger in the garden and Padrons seem to be more cold hardy than many other peppers so that bodes well for continued harvests from your garden. My zucchini don't seem to mind 50° nights, that's pretty normal around here for most of the summer. The cucumbers, on the other hand, they pout until the night time temps warm up a bit.
ReplyDeletePeppers are weird. They are a lot more sensitive to cold in the spring than tomatoes, but (around here at least) seem to last longer than the tomatoes (and Liz can winter them over, maybe you can too). I hope I get a few more Padron. The Tiburon ancho/poblanos and Aconacaguas are cranking, so here's hoping for a few more weeks.
DeleteWhat a nice colorful harvest! Part of me is ready for the season to be over and start preparing for the next, and part of me is not ;)
ReplyDeleteYeah, same here, I definitely have had my fill of beans. I did plant some fall crops so I am actually looking forward to getting some lettuce, endive and choi from the garden.
DeleteStill pretty good harvest, Dave. I like that trombocino, what are you going to do with it? I'm with Shawn Ann about being ambivalent wanting the season over. It's got a lot to do with the neighbor's bamboo taking over the garden, and the millions of mosquitoes eating me alive each time I step out. But at the same time, it's comforting to be able to just go out to pick a few fresh things to add in your cooking.
ReplyDeleteSince my zucchini are kaput, I have been using the Tromboncino the same way, steamed and stir fried. Too bad about the bamboo, but can't you eat bamboo shoots? (Secretly, stealthily, I would break out the brush killer and nuke it all. Oopsies!)
DeleteI, too, am happy the garden is slowing down. With a forecast for 38 degrees overnight I'm thinking we might get an early fall frost before long,to go with our late, mid-May spring frost.
ReplyDeleteDon't say frost :). My peppers are having a second life and I need/deserve some more. I hate Falls when we get a killing frost in September that kills all the tender plants, and then 4-5 more warm weeks of Indian summer.
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