I had already posted four times this summer about my garden before I noticed the @gardenjournal contest. This time I will include my garden post here!
Last weekend the tomatoes began turning red in a serious way. Some years, I bring nearly the entire crop into the house in late September, still green, and wait for them to ripen in flats under the beds. This year the weather has been unusually warm and the tomatoes apparently like it.
I have been rinsing them, removing the stem area/core, and freezing them whole. My intention is to make salsa and spaghetti sauce in the winter when I don't mind standing over a hot kettle. Today I froze two batches like this. As far as I know, I only have two varieties of tomato plants, so I'm not sure why there is such a wide range of sizes.
I picked cucumbers on Monday. I thought I checked the vines on Tuesday and Wednesday, but maybe I didn't: my son brought all of these in on Thursday!
A recent day's harvest is pictured below. That was the last little ear of corn, and the tomato got knocked off by accident. It will ripen in the house.
Our water rates are going up, so this summer I experimented with ways to use less water in the garden. I watered each plant or hill by hand, using a watering can when the plants were small, and the hose after the plants were bigger. That worked well until the plants got really big and the weather became very warm.
In my previous garden post I bemoaned the afternoon wilting of the cucumber and squash plants. I bought more shade cloth with which to shelter them in the heat of the day, but that didn't solve the problem. I finally realized I was going to have to use the oscillating sprinklers and soak ALL of the ground, not just the places where the plants are growing. Those sprinklers are said to waste a great deal of water, but it's what I have to work with so it's what I used.
And it worked wonders! The vine plants quit wilting every afternoon. The lilac leaves perked up and the sunflowers began to grow rapidly. I was so pleased to see all of those plants looking healthy once again.
The first sunflower to bloom. My hand is for scale. The plant is about 5'7" tall, same height as I am.
I did pull up three of the Red Kuri squash hills because those plants had no little squashes starting on them anywhere, and it was too late in the season for any latecomers to mature. I kept one plant, and the one Red Kuri squash on it may actually mature before frost arrives.
I haven't mentioned the zucchini and the yellow straightneck summer squash. They are producing busily, with plenty to share with my friends.
Despite some ups and downs, I would say this has been a successful gardening season. I keep saying I must downsize next year, but will I remember that next spring? I have several months in which to change my mind.
All photos taken on my Android phone.