Thursday, August 2, 2012

A Pause in the Produce...

Believe it or not the garden seems to be taking a bit of a breather. Tomatoes are just beginning to ripen, the summer squash has slowed down, the first green beans are finished. My chard is very slow and small this year and the cukes are also far less robust than last years. I've used the time to start planting for the fall. I waited too long for some things, sadly, but I did get in two more carrot beds, some Asian greens and kale. It remains to be seen how they germinate. Hope to get fall lettuce in today, though I have to say I've never yet had any luck with it. And of course, spinach. I do tend to do better with the Fall spinach than with Spring sown.
Last August was far and away the most productive month of the season and I hope this year will be the same. Time will tell. Last summer was my most productive gardening since I started four summers ago and this year I am already over 100 pounds ahead of last year but I think the tomatoes that usually beef up my totals are going to be way down this year. I have a few nice winter squash and melons, but wonder if they will fully mature before the vines give up after being assaulted by squash beetles and borers. I've battled them, but I'm losing.
 Here is a bright spot: This Glory of Enkhuisen cabbage is huge! I did some root pruning to slow it down so it doesn't split. This is a storage cabbage, so I'd like to hold it in the garden as long as I can. There are others in the bed, but this one is the largest and nicest. It is sharing some space with a kale plant on the right.
The basil is looking great, but I need to harvest it soon. I tend to dawdle because I'm never quite sure what to do with it.
My third bed of green beans, sown where the Red Norland potatoes were harvested from are sprouting nicely and I hope will still have time to produce before the first frost.
I'm also using this mild slow-down to tackle some of the weeds that have been making the garden look so messy. It's too late for perfection, but at least things are looking a little neater down there!

6 comments:

  1. My garden is in low gear right now, too. I'm wondering if I'll ever get enough tomatoes at once to can, I may end up freezing dabs of sauce the entire season. That's one gorgeous cabbage! I grew only dwarf varieties this year, so they only weighed about two pounds each.

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    1. All my early cabbages were small, but very nice. I've never grown keepers before. I have two varieties, the Glory of Enkhuizen is an heirloom and they look beautiful. The other is a modern one, can't think of the name offhand, but they don't look as nice. The tomatoes...oh man, I sure hope I can can some because we use lots. I have about 15 to 20 jars left from last year; good thing, because I don't think we'll be getting that many this summer.

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  2. That is a picture perfect cabbage! Looks like the ones that are in seed catalogs.

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    1. Thank you! I think so too and it's been putting a smile on my face!

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  3. That pretty cabbage looks like it should be in a gardening book! I hope your sqush makes it as I hope mine does too! Nancy

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    1. Thank you! Good luck with your squash! Last year I was happy just to get a few medium sized winter squash. This year there are more on the vine, but there are many more pests too!

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