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| Garden in the morning |
Sunday, August 18, 2024
August usually sees the full repertoire of the summer garden harvests. Late sweet corn (plant corn in succession and different varieties to lengthen the harvest), summer squashes (like zucchini), peppers of all types (sweet to hot, hot), tomatoes, Mediterranean herbs, cucumbers, okra, apples, peaches, pears, grapes, beans, melons, figs, eggplant, honey, artichokes, raspberries, onion, winter squash and fennel are all in season in the Midwest.
This year for warm season veggies, I am harvesting winter and summer squash, tomatoes, peppers, greens, sprouting broccoli, Egyptian walking onions, eggplant, cucumbers, goji berry, basil, melons, strawberries, husk cherries, lettuce, Red Malabar spinach, New Zealand spinach, purple tomatillos, and herbs.
My butternut squash vine produced 8 squashes; 1 got ate on and then rotted. The other 7 I have hardening on the covered patio. I got one Jarrahdale pumpkin from the two vines I planted. I have it hardening on the covered patio, too, with the garlic and shallots. You can harvest winter squashes when the vine dies back and the stem turns brown.
I did not plant a second round of cucumbers so my cucumber vine is looking sad and not producing as often. I have gotten all the cucumbers I need for pickles so it is fine for production to be slow now. Make pickle relish Quick tip-make homemade pickles with extra cucumbers For zucchini, tomatoes and cucumbers, it is a good idea to replant at the beginning of July to keep the harvest going as they are susceptible to disease. I have been growing Trombetta summer squash the last few years and it seems resistant to our pests and diseases and produces through fall. I did replant an Early White Scallop summer squash plant. The 2 earlier ones were killed by squash bugs; they love all types of squash. The Trombetta just keeps extending its vine and rooting as it goes so if any of the plant is killed, the new vine just keeps producing.
I did plant a second round of tomatoes last month and I have volunteers that have many tomatoes on them. At the beginning of the month, I planted the extra Brandywines I had in large pots. They are loaded with fruits that should be ripening soon. In the middle of the month, I bought some sad looking Celebrity tomatoes that were on clearance and planted them in the garden bed where my others died. Celebrity is supposed to be very disease resistant so I am putting them to the test! So far, they are growing slowly but look healthy. Probably be at least another month before they are producing as their days to harvest from sprouting is 70-75 days. They'll continue to produce until the first hard freeze if you keep them fertilized, watered and treated for disease.
We are in a drought right now and the mama deer are weaning their babies. They are starting to forage in my garden even with deer repellant. The deer repellant works 90% of the time if you keep it refreshed, but sometime if the deer are really hungry, they will still get in your garden unless you have it fenced. So far, they have only eaten the leaves off my bean vines and my flame celosias.
We grow many edibles in pots because our edibles are integrated into the flower beds. In pots, we have had great luck with Egyptian walking onions (which can be harvested year round), peppers, eggplant, bush zucchini, bush cucumber, dwarf tomatoes, greens, fig tree, columnar apple trees, dwarf moringa tree, kumquat tree, sweet bay, mint, goji berry, raspberry, lettuce and celery.
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| Spaghetti squash sitting on hummingbird vine |
I have tried sweet and hot peppers in pots and the garden. Overall, they seem to do the best in pots. I am growing a few hot peppers-a pequin type Chiltepin, cayenne, and Anaheim. I use the tiny peppers in my season salt I make, the cayenne for hot sauce, and Anaheim for chili powder.
My sweet peppers have had a slow start this year. I have many green peppers on my snacking pepper plant and have been harvesting the Jigsaw, Anaheim and Chiltepin peppers for close to a month now. I am getting ready to do my second round of drying the Anaheims for chili powder today. The hot and sweet peppers I slice and put in freezer bags.
Weekly watering for plants in the ground is sufficient with monthly fertilizing. A pot with a water reservoir in the bottom is the best solution for lengthening the time between waterings when growing in pots. Otherwise, plan on watering your pots every 2-3 days and fertilize every other week. Summer garden tips
I grow all of our herbs in the ground except sweet bay. Sweet bay is a tender perennial and will not survive winters outside so I keep it in a pot to bring in each fall. I had one a couple of years ago that was supposed to be hardy in our zone and it didn’t make it. I put my new ones in pots and they have overwintered well in our unheated garage for the last two winters. Fall is a good time to plant perennial herbs, veggies, fruits and flowers.
Flowers are doing great right now in the garden. They are covered in beneficial insects, butterflies, butterfly caterpillars and the occasional hummingbird. The zinnias, marigolds, petunias, Hummingbird vine, and Cock's Comb are putting on a big show. The zinnias, marigolds and Cock's Comb are also edible. Flowers that are edible
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| Red zinnia |
If you are not growing summer veggies in your own garden, your local farmers market is a great place to pick up these seasonal veggies to either eat or preserve. The best buy on any fruit or vegetable is when it is in season. It's also when they are the most nutritious. You can get even better deals on any produce that has a few blemishes which have no effect on the flavor. If you are going to can, freeze or dry them, just be sure to remove any blemishes first.
A quick reminder, save the seeds from your best performers that have been disease free to plant next year. You can replant seeds from any heirlooms or open pollinated plants. What do the terms GMO, natural, heirloom, organic, hybrid really mean? Not only does it save you money, but it also gives you the plants that do the best under your garden and zone conditions. Seed saving-fun, easy and a cost saver
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