We’ve passed the middle of September, and things are still growing! Despite the heat and humidity over the last several days, crops continue to ripen, mature, and flower. It has taken plenty of deep watering through much of the last 6 weeks, but the results are worth every bit of effort.
Remember that there are no more Wednesday farmstands planned at this point. The shorter days and declining crop amounts just don’t make it viable. The extra day each week will allow me to make jams, work in the gardens, pull weeds from the landscaping (maybe until the end of time) and make an impact on the fall outdoor work. But, understand that there are things that can be picked during the week, so if you’d like something – just get in touch!
Here’s a crop report:
Beans: I’m happy to report that these things are still producing and flowering!! All of the beds, including the two original ones seeded on May 12th, are giving beans. These beds have been so productive despite wacky weather and me thinking every week that it would be time to pull those original beds. Nope, they’re loaded with flowers again today. A few of the yellow/wax bean plants from May are approaching their end, but otherwise, I’m picking every other day while it’s warm.
Beets: There is a small patch of red, baby, and golden beets that will be ready at any time. The greens are pretty tattered from wind and insects, but the roots are looking pretty good.
Broccoli: These are loving the shorter days and cooler nights. There are older plants churning out smaller heads, teenage plants giving bigger heads, and baby plants that are just getting starting. We could see a good harvest this week/weekend.
Carrots: We have 2 full rows of carrots maturing. Some golden ones will be ready this week. Then, we’ll have some multi-colored and the last bit will be orange.
Cucumbers: The heaviest crop of the season! There are 2 full trellises of the smaller, pickling variety and one is really tattered and slowing. The second was planted much later, and it’s still doing well, but in lesser quantities. There is half a trellis of the long, slicing cucumbers and we’ll see at least a couple more pickings (some will be ready mid-week). Overall, I feel like these plants are going to see a cool night and flip their sign to “Closed for the season” without warning. And, that will be ok. They’ve been incredibly productive! I believe that we’ve sold over 1000 this season – simply incredible!
Kale: Again, this is a cool loving crop, and the new growth is nice! I think the insects are dying off, and we’ll continue to see nice foliage from the green and red varieties for a while.
Onions: SOLD OUT for the season
Peas: The fall peas sprouted during one of those rainy spells and they were looking great and starting to send out little side shoots and *BAM* insects devoured them overnight. Little buggers! So, we will have zero fall peas… I’m trying not to be too sad about this, but there just wasn’t enough time to reseed. My mind has already been working out how to get earlier peas next spring and where to grow them without interfering with planting the cherry tomatoes. There is a plan formulating…
Swiss chard: The chard is loving the cooler, longer nights! Give it a try – it’s so much like spinach, but the leaves are larger. It’s such a crisp green to add to a sandwich or burger, use as a wrap, or you can eat it as a fresh salad or saute it like spinach.
Tomatoes: There are nice tomatoes on the plants and some are ripening today. Cherry tomatoes are giving several pounds a week, while their neighbor, the San Marzano is trying to finish the season. There are probably 4 pounds left on the plants. But, the large Roma varieties are still giving great looking tomatoes! Slicers will continue, but the size is similar to baseballs or a little smaller. As usual, the salad tomatoes just keep skipping along like there’s nothing happening. They’ve been pruned back again to get the tomatoes ripening faster. If you want to make a quick, sweet pan sauce, try using the salad and/or cherry tomatoes – yum!
Squash: Yesterday, there were finally some fall crops to harvest, with many more fruits still growing and maturing. These included 3 full sized butternut, 12 acorn, a bunch of small white (Casperita) pumpkins, and a good haul of decorative gourds. Everything is on a rack with the fan blowing on them to help dry up the stems and get started on the curing process. I’m hopeful that some will be ready for Saturday. As for zucchini and yellow squash, the new plants are finally giving some fruits! Not a lot, but better than nothing, and it seems like insect pressure is less than a few weeks ago. It couldn’t really have gotten worse, though 🙂
Flowers: The zinnias are growing like it’s July and need another deadheading session, while their sunny neighbors have mostly finished. There is one small patch of sunflowers that the birds didn’t pluck or peck and I just transplanted a dozen or so good sized plants earlier this week. That was an effort to keep the birds out of them. The fillers are still going strong, and the ornamental grasses are starting to plume. The sweetspire bushes are showing some fall color and will be great in bouquets along with purple asters and stems of sedum. What I may be lacking in huge flowers can be made up with texture, variety and colorful zinnias.
Herbs: There is a huge amount of basil, purple basil, Italian parsley, sage and oregano. If you want a bunch to freeze or dry, I’ll make you a great deal. There is still a little thyme, but it’s struggling. We do have a decent amount of lemon thyme to cut and a fair amount of rosemary, too.
Baking, jamming, making body products, and outdoor clean-up will be much of what I do in the coming weeks. And, that’s no hardship for me – I love doing all those things! Please reach out if there are things that you’d like from the garden, and we can coordinate. Thanks for reading to the end!