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| Garden in the morning |
Sunday, August 12, 2018
August sees the full swing of the summer, warm season 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, blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, onion, and fennel are all in season in the Midwest.
This year for warm season veggies, I am growing zucchini, tomatoes, peppers, herbs, greens, sprouting broccoli, Egyptian walking onions, eggplant, cucumbers, goji berry, green beans, and stevia. I planted my zucchini late and it has not started to produce yet. For zucchini, it is a good idea to replant at the beginning of August to keep the harvest going. Many do the same with tomatoes. I did plant 3 tomatoes later and they all look really healthy.
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. 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.
I pick what to have in our garden based on the harvest per foot of garden space needed. Our garden is incorporated into the flower garden mulch bed and in pots, so we have to be choiceful on what to grow.
In pots, we have had great luck with Egyptian walking onions (which can be harvested year round), peppers, eggplant, zucchini, cucumber, greens, fig, columnar apple, passion flower, sweet bay, greens, mint, goji berry, lettuce and celery.
I harvested the winter squash I grew in the last week, spaghetti squash.
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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 couple of hot peppers-a pequin type, cayenne, Jalapeño, and Ancho. I’ll use the tiny peppers in my season salt I make, the cayenne for hot sauce, Jalapeño in salsa, and the Ancho for chili powder.
My sweet peppers are doing well. I have gotten many peppers off my Pimento and several off the sweet pepper plants. I planted all my peppers very late this year so they are doing well for how long they have been growing.
My first summer squash died from the vine borer. Plant after June 1 to miss this insect. The zucchini Cocozelle was planted later. It is huge and has many blooms but no fruits yet.
I have one tomato in a pot that stays small. Look for compact varieties if growing in a pot or in limited space in the garden. Weekly care for plants in the ground is sufficient. A pot with a water reservoir in the bottom is the best solution for lengthening the time between waterings when growing in pots.
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 last year that was supposed to be hardy in our zone and it didn’t make it. I put my new ones in pots and will overwinter them in our unheated garage this winter. Fall is a good time to plant perennial herbs.
Rosemary is also tender. I have tried the several varieties that are supposed to be able to survive a Midwest winter and have yet to find one that will last past 2 seasons. I have tried to also keep in a pot and bring in each winter, but have not had good luck with this approach, but many do. So, this is an herb I will buy each spring if overwintering does not work out, plant in the garden, then preserve for the winter by harvesting late in the season and drying.
Flowers are doing great right now in the garden. The zinnias, marigolds, dahlias, Hummingbird vine, and Cock's Comb are putting on a big show.
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| Red zinnia |
A quick reminder, save the seeds from your best performers to plant next year. You can replant seeds from any heirlooms or open pollinated plants. Not only does it save you money, but it also gives you the plants that do the best under your garden and zone conditions.
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