What's happening in the mid-September edible garden

Trellised purple pole beans and potted Egyptian walking onions

Saturday, September 14, 2023

Self seeding flowers like zinnias, hummingbird vine, morning glory, marigolds, Love Lies Bleeding and Cock's Comb celosia are in full splendor right now.  Tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, Egyptian walking onions, cucumbers, the Mediterranean herbs like basil, rosemary, sage, oregano, chives, dill, tarragon and thyme and all types of greens enjoy the bright sunshine and temperatures in the 70's.  We are preserving everything we have extra right now.  Love knowing that we can eat food we grew year round.

In the last week, we have seen the temps to the highs in the 70's and low 80's.  We are not getting the fall rains we used to get this time of the year.  Just sunny, dry with low humidity.  Great weather for enjoying the outdoors, but watering is needed for the edibles.

I fertilized at the beginning of the month with an organic fertilizer from Espoma.  With natural fertilizers you don’t have to worry about “burning” your plants as they slowly release into the ground.   This may be the last time I fertilize this season. You should fertilize about once a month through the growing season.  You don’t want to shoot too much nitrogen to your fruit producers as you can end up with all leaves and no veggie fruits.  

 The veggies that love the spring weather also thrive in fall.  It is important to get all your winter and overwintering veggies and greens up to full size prior to early November.  The days are so short come November that there will be minimal growth from November to mid January.  The fall edible garden

This year was decent for peppers and tomatoes.  Peppers were late getting started but have produced well.  I trimmed back the tomato plants as they were getting very leggy.  They are growing new leaves and flowering again.  I planted a second round of tomato plants that have many baby tomatoes on them.  One  beefsteak has 10 tomatoes on it.  Peppers and tomatoes will continue producing up until a hard freeze. 

I have started growing 2 tomato crops, one early and one started in June.  This way when some of the tomato plants die back, the new ones are kicking in.  Out of the 14 plants I started with, 4 have died.  I already have enough frozen tomatoes in the freezer to last until next year's harvest.  I'll make sauce and can it with the frozen tomatoes left from 2022.  I always do that when it starts cooling off.  

 Preserving the tomato harvest       Easy, low tox canning of summer's bounty

My pepper plants are still producing.  The plants grew quite large this year in the pots. The Pimento Elite and Ancho grown in the ground were much smaller.  The sweet red snacking pepper, Anaheim and Chipetin pepper plants have both green and ripening fruits on it.  I have been freezing extras off the sweet pepper plants and drying the Anaheim peppers for chili powder for about a month now.  They'll produce until a freeze.  The cayenne plant I overwintered indoors last 2 years died; not sure why.  I have plenty of cayennes frozen but will grow either a cayenne or jalapeño to make more hot sauce next year.  The potted Chipetin pepper plant that has overwintered indoors for a few years now is still going strong.  Peppers love September

I grew three types of pole snap beans this year and Christmas Speckles lima beans.  I planted 1500 Year Old bean vine that can be either harvested tender or left on the vine for dried beans; I'm using it for snap beans.  I did my standby Blauhilde purple Romano type bean.  I planted a Japanese early winged bean that has beautiful blue flowers.  The pole beans are putting on a second flush of beans after fertilizing the pots.  The winged bean takes a while to get going and just started producing beans.  The Christmas Speckles lima bean is on its third round of pod production.  They will all produce up to a hard freeze.

Basil in front, okra to left, cock's comb on right, zinnias in background

I started by bush cucumber 3 times in a pot again this year.  The last time I finally got a vine growing.  I have only gotten about 6 cukes on the vine this year.  I do have some more flowers and new leaves so hopefully I will get more fruits.  I've made 3 quarts of pickles and had 3 left from last year.  This is probably enough to get us to next season.   Make your own pickles without a store bought seasoning mix

My potted eggplant did not do well this year.  I think it is because I let the volunteer morning glory vines go a little too wild across the plants.  Eggplant loves hot weather and lots of sun.  Next year, I will keep the vines away from my eggplant.

The Trombetta summer squash is doing well.  I am getting a few fruits every week so enough for us to eat and give 1 to friends or family each week.  If I have many extras, I will make into zoodles.  This zucchini is one I will grow every year as it is the most disease and pest resistant I have found, it doesn't over produce, and it tastes great.

My raspberry plants are producing fruits again.  I usually have figs, too, but the super warm to freezing cold snap we had in late winter killed my fig tree.  I got one apple off my columnar apple tree this week.  We removed the wire mesh from around it and the deer came and snacked.  I never get many apples off the tree so it was not a big loss.  The goji (or wolf berry) berry bush is producing many fruits.  My kumquat tree is covered in small, green fruits.

The chives, tarragon, thyme, oregano, celery, and sage are all doing quite well.  The Egyptian walking onions are thriving.  All will do well through the fall and into the winter.  I already took a good cutting of all my herbs and have been drying in an upstairs closet for about a month now.  I'll make my herb mix that I use in just about everything once they are fully dry.  Use your own herbs for your Thanksgiving dinner

Basil does not survive a frost so I will harvest all of the plants when the forecast is calling for frost and make pesto that I freeze.  I have a variety called African nunum that does great indoors all winter that I can always have fresh basil when I need it.  It smells wonderful, too.  Basil basics-harvesting, preserving, growing basil

I just got my lettuce seeds started this week.  The temperatures are perfect for germinating and growing lettuce right now.  When the seedlings get to a good size, I will transplant them into their winter home in my self watering Earthboxes.  So far, the Tom Thumb, Red Romaine and Landis Winter varieties have sprouted. 

I had let the greens in the Earthbox reseed themselves over the summer and there are new sweet mustard greens, celery, chard, cultivated dandelions, sprouting broccoli, amaranth, and Ruby Streaks mustard growing.  I will cover the Earthboxes with a portable green house later this fall so we can have salads throughout the winter.  Homegrown, organic salads in a Midwest winter

I have had a huge number of volunteer Red Malabar spinach vines from seed from last year's vines.  Will need to do more pulling of the volunteers next year!  Had many volunteers of cock's comb, too.  When they get a decent size, I move them around to pots and in the garden bed.  I love their bright colors.

Make sure you save the seeds from your best and longest producers to plant in your garden next spring.  I also save seeds from organic produce I get from the store that is really good.  Some of my favorite tomato plants have come from seed saved from store bought tomatoes.  Look for heirlooms as they will come back like their parent from seed.  What do the terms GMO, natural, heirloom, organic, hybrid really mean?

Tomato, horseradish, marigolds, morning glory and zinnias in the south facing garden
This fall, we will have mustard greens, lettuce, chard, Red Malabar spinach, New Zealand spinach, garden sorrel, cultivated dandelion, purslane, cress, celery, chives, and sprouting broccoli for salads.  Peppers, snap beans, squash, eggplant and tomatoes will produce until the first freeze.  The Egyptian onions will produce all through winter.