Suddenly it is November! I am not sure where October and most of September got off to, but here we are. We had our first frost on October 16 and since then it has been very temperate outside. I have cleared the tomato vines and basil bushes out of the garden and planted three kale plants. I got so busy with my business that I failed to get any other seeds in to the ground though I may still run out and plant something just to see what happens this year. Last year I planted Swiss Chard, spinach and salad in the fall and it came up in the spring, lasting almost all summer!
One thing I wanted to do this fall was to save some of the seed from this year’s plants. I was intrigued to find out what the different seeds looked like as I had never seen some of the seeds except in a paper packet. Broccoli was one of those vegetables and so I have waited patiently for the seeds to form. As you can see, they look a lot like tiny bean pods. I read somewhere that you should wait until they turn brown to collect them so wait I will. What seeds are you saving to plant again next year?
My tomato plants are still valiantly trying to produce new tomatoes, but I don’t think I will get a whole lot more off of any of the bushes. The Marion, Brandywine and Beefsteak have been fairly puny all season. Their paltry production was more than offset by the amount, size and quality of the fruit of the German Queen and Cherokee Purple Rose plants.
Lesson Learned: I need taller, sturdier supports for German Queen and Cherokee Purple Rose since they are indeterminate in their growth pattern. I doubt I will grow the Marion, Brandywine and Beefsteak varieties next year.
Which heirloom tomatoes did you have luck with this year?
P.S. It is raining! Finally!
We spent the morning outside in the yard and garden. With my daughter’s help I cleaned up the three small beds in the front yard. We pulled out the diseased cantaloupe vines that had produced only one tiny fruit, turned the beds and went treasure hunting for sweet potatoes. We found only a few very small potatoes, not bad for three plants but the size may have had more to do with how hard the soil was. I think that I definitely need to add more organic matter to the front boxes and then remember to use the hoe to keep the soil looser. In the back, I cleaned out the area where the cucumbers had grown, cleaned the volunteer morning glory out of the cherokee rose tomatoes and harvested seed from the dill weed plants and pulled them from the garden.
I have added a couple of photos from plants that are blooming. I had never seen broccoli bloom before. It is quite pretty and the bees seem to like it a lot. The garlic chives are beautiful in bloom as are all the lemon/lime basil plants. We still have a great deal of bee activity going on in the garden.
So, how did you spend YOUR Labor Day?
Garlic Chives
Broccoli in Bloom
The second crop of bush beans I planted in July are almost ready to pick. As I said in earlier postings, I had not grown tenderette beans before and I was curious to see how they would perform. Well, I’m glad to say that they have done really well even in adverse weather conditions. When I first planted them it was hot and humid and kept threatening to rain. It did not rain very much though.
The day after we installed the rain barrel it did indeed rain enough to fill the barrel so today I am using rain water to water my beans! What have you planted in your fall garden?
Well, I am finally the proud owner of a nice big rain barrel! Full disclosure here: I did some consulting for my friends at AESOP Energy Options and in exchange they gave me a big, beautiful rain barrel. It was easily assembled and put in place in about 20 minutes, including leveling the ground and shortening the down spout, by my wonderful husband. There are other things that we do to conserve resources here in the garden including composting, waiting until the dishwasher and clothes washer are full to run them and using more energy efficient light bulbs. We switched to a front loading washer several years ago. Many years ago we had a home with a solar hot water heater. I loved the lower electric bills and the fact that we never ran out of water! The folks at AESOP are experts in many ways you can conserve our natural resources and save money at the same time. Check out their website or give Tim or Craig a call if you have questions!
Of course, we also do a lot of recycling as well. I continue to look for other ways to conserve. How about you? What are you doing to conserve resources these days?
I ran across a version of this recipe in Martha Stewart’s Everyday Food Magazine earlier this summer and I saved it to try when the tomatoes were in season. Unfortunately, my four legged garden companion Loki ate the book before I could copy the recipe and properly cite it, so I made this from memory.
- Eggplant sliced thin
- Tomatoes, any variety sliced
- Buffalo mozarella cheese
- Basil, any variety
- Coarse salt and pepper
- Olive oil
- Balsamic Vinegar
Place the eggplant on a jellyroll sheet coated with olive oil. Sprinkle with coarse salt and pepper. Then brush the tops of the eggplant with olive oil as well. Bake for 20 minutes at 350 degrees.
Once it is done, arrange eggplant, tomatoes and cheese on a platter. Sprinkle torn basil leaves over the veggies and cheese. Pour about two tablespoons of olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Eat!
NOTES: There are many ways to play with this recipe. Try different varieties of eggplant, tomatoes and basil as well as different types of vinegar. The many combinations are delightful on a hot summer night!
At the beginning of the summer I made a rash statement that the German Queen tomato plant in my garden was a lazy do nothing kind of gal. Well, I take it all back. She may have been a late bloomer but and her friend the Cherokee Purple Rose tomato plant in the next bed over, have been top producers in the long run. Their fruits are very different, but both are very tasty.
I should also say that while the Beefsteak was the first to produce, followed by the Marion both produced much smaller fruits and much less. The Brandywines weren’t even in the competition. I am surprised at that outcome. I truly expected the Brandywine and Beefsteak to bear much larger fruits. The Marion was a complete unknown so I didn’t have a pre-conceived notion of how it would grow.
There could be many reasons for the outcome above. The plants have had some rain, but not too much and many hot, humid days. Insect attacks abound and I have thrown a number of tomatoes in to the compost bin with worms inside and we won’t even mention the birds and other larger critters. There have also been a group of small ant looking insects that gather where the stem and tomato come together. I tried to take a photo of the entire group, but they were shy and I only got one but it is a good pic. I am not sure what they are doing or even who they are, but I would like to invite them to feast elsewhere. Do you know who this is?
UPDATE:
Actually, the Coop Extension specialist here in York County says that it is the nymph of a leaf-footed bug which is a relative of the stink bug. He provided the following link for further research: http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/galveston/p&dc_12.htm . They evidently travel in groups and this one was running to join his friends when I captured his photo. The others are hiding between this tomato and the one right next to it under the stem.
The gray bugs in this post http://carolinavictorygarden.wordpress.com/2009/07/09/pumpkin-pests/ are the adult version. They evidently eat seed pods and fruit which explains why I have found them all over my older sunflowers as well as the tomatoes and pumpkins.
The last sunflower has come to full bloom in the garden and it is pretty gorgeous. It looks a bit like a hunched over old man or some sort of Halloween spook I recall seeing in an old Scooby Doo cartoon as a kid. It makes me smile and even giggle a bit when my imagination goes to work. I thought I would share it so you could smile too. Can’t you just see the flower person looming over Scooby?
I planted a late squash crop this year, scalloped squash, hoping they would grow unscathed to harvest this fall. But it is not to be. I had three very nice looking plants growing in the back garden, and they looked just fine yesterday afternoon when I checked them. Unfortunately THIS afternoon was another story. This damage was done in 24 hours. The squash were planted right next to a very healthy crop of marigolds which are rumored to discourage these little buggers.
I’ll be doing some research on this matter over the next few days. I’ll make updates when I have some better information. Do you have any suggestions for how to avoid or treat Squash vine borer organically?
UPDATE: According to Rodale’s All-New Encyclopedia of Organic Gardening published in 1997, one can get rid of squash vine borers organically is to slit “afflicted stems and remove and destroy any larvae found inside, or inject the stems with BTK,” and then mound the soil over the slit stems to encourage new root growth. Will either of these alternatives work? I am going to take the one remaining squash plant and try to destroy the larvae and encourage it to grow more roots. I’ll let you know!
