The Garden's Last Hoorah

This last week of chilly weather has made it clear that autumn is upon us. The garden, however, seems to think it is springtime. Or at least some of the plants are giving things another go. The acorn squash plants have put on three new squash, each the size of a walnut. One year, when we were living on the mountain, we actually got two full rounds of acorn squash. The ones in the second batch were smaller and didn’t have a very long storage life but they were still tasty. I don’t think we’ll have time to see these new squash come to full maturity.

Acorn squash, round two.

The squash are not the only plants trying again. The tomatoes have put out a bunch of new blossoms as have the purple and fillet beans. A single new kohlrabi seedling has even appeared. The yellow squash has set fruit for the first time this season. Too bad they probably won’t get big enough to eat. It’s unusual for a single type of plant to fail me several times in one season. The cucumbers are giving it another go too. The peppers are still trying hard as are the eggplants. This isn’t really a second attempt for either of them as they have been very slow to produce the whole time.

More blossoms on the tomatoes.

Cucumbers making one final, pitiful push.

A new spiky eggplant flower

The rattlesnake beans have put on a fresh batch of blossoms as well. I’m really enjoying those beans. I grew them primarily for shell beans but as I picked the dried pods today, I also was able to pick a generous handful of fresh beans. With the new blossoms and tiny beans just starting, I may get more fresh beans before frost comes. As for the dried beans, we got 3 ½ cups from about a dozen plants. I’m not sure if that’s good or not but I’m pleased.

New bean blossom.

Rattlesnake beans to shell.

Beans!

Rattlesnake beans ready to become baked beans or soup.

The garden is apparently not ready to be put to bed yet. That’s okay. It’ll be nice to get those last few beans and tomatoes. We did do some final harvesting, though. We pulled all the carrots and dug the rest of the potatoes. The potato harvest was not overwhelming by any means but the carrots made up for it. 

Our meager harvest of potatoes.

Carrots enjoying some afternoon sun.

The corn and pumpkins are definitely finished. There is no way that either will be attempting a second round. The plants are completely dead. The corn was rather disappointing. I think it was the variety. It made small, irregular ears that grew up through the leaves. Weird. I plan on looking for a different type next year. But I collected the stalks and bound them together to decorate the front of our house. We got two pumpkins but one was chewed on while still on the vine. It still makes a decent decoration with the other pumpkin and a ceramic chicken.  

This corn is finished.

One perfect little pumpkin.

All decorated for autumn.

I’m out of town for three days and this happens…

 

I went to the Adirondacks on a brief visit and when I got back it was like the garden had gone crazy while I was gone. A few warm, sunny days after a bunch of rain will do that. The lettuce seeds I planted have started. There are dozens of tomatoes just waiting to turn red. The zucchini, cucumber and pumpkin plants are all starting to set fruit. The pole beans and the bush beans are in blossom. I picked a good handful of snap peas yesterday evening for dinner and today I picked turnips and beets. I imagine that soon I will have more produce than I know what to do with. I love it when that happens!

zucchini

pumpkin

beans

turnips

beets

There was one unfortunate occurrence that will account for the ominous title of this post. The daylilies by the porch were just on the brink of fully blossoming when I left town. Just before I got back one of the several deer that frequent our yard nipped off the majority of the buds. Sigh. I knew that could happen. I just hoped it wouldn’t. There are some buds remaining so I might get to enjoy some flowers. At least I got some pictures of the earliest blooms.

Before the deer came in for a snack

Om nom nom, daylilies

 And here are some more pictures from the garden and around the yard.

Vegetable Rundown

This year I planted every type of seed I had just to see how they would grow. Now that we’re well into the season, I feel like I can make my first report on successes and failures. Here’s the rundown.
 

What didn’t grow?

Soybeans – The seeds were a couple years old and the ones I planted last year did not grow either so I was not at all surprised.

Tri-colored beans – Again, the seeds were a couple of years old but I thought with several different varieties in the mix that something might grow. One seed did sprout. I think it’s a purple bean.

Rosemary, Parsley and Sage – I should have started these herbs indoors but did not make the effort this year. They were older seeds so I just put them in the ground with some hope but little expectation. I had planted some of the sage seeds at my in-law’s herb bed several years ago and the plants are still going strong. I’ll have to try a transplant.

What plants have given a weak showing so far?

Yellow Squash – Only one of the seeds has sprouted and the leaves look shriveled and deformed. I’ll have to plant a couple more and see if they do better.

Eggplant – I bought these as plants and put them in the ground about three weeks ago. They don’t appear to have grown much in that time. They did take a beating from flea beetles before we dusted them. Hopefully the plants will rally.

Green Onions – I’ve never grown green onions before so I’m not sure where they should be growth-wise at the moment. They just look rather wispy to me.

Fennel – The fennel seed have finally sprouted. I worry what the late start will mean for potential harvest.

Basil – This is another case in which I probably should have started the seeds early. I do have two tiny seedlings. In time I may have more basil than I know what to do with.

What are the stars of the garden?

Arugula – I’ve never grown arugula before. My grandmother planted some in a window box a few years ago and it never did much. It has been growing like crazy and tastes good even when it gets bigger than I wanted before harvesting.

Pak choi – I have also never grown pak choi before. The toy choy variety that I planted grew quickly and was ready to harvest sooner than I expected. Next year I will plant a few seeds every few weeks so I can have a longer harvest.

Spinach – I can’t call the spinach a triumph but it certainly is growing better than I had hoped. For some reason I have never had luck growing spinach of any variety. I always got scraggly little plants that went to seed quickly. My spinach is getting spindly and going to seed now (there’s no way to prevent that in this weather) but I did harvest more than I ever have in the past. I’m calling that a win.

Horseradish – The horseradish is making a spectacular show above ground. We’ll see what’s going on with the roots come harvest time.

Horseradish going crazy

I hate to jinx anything or count chickens before they are hatched but nearly everything else is growing right along pretty well. The strawberries are sending off runners, the corn almost has the potential of being knee-high by the fourth of July and the snap peas should be blossoming soon. I still don’t know if we’ll have to plug in the chest freezer in the basement to preserve the season’s harvest but it feels likely that we will. (fingers crossed)

Pak choi (before I harvested it all)

Flowers on a tomato plant

A pumpkin planted among the corn

Neon lights chard

Buckwheat planted outside the garden to attract bees

Roses behind the garage - they're pretty but we can't see them from the house