Got pumpkin?

We've had a couple of light frosts, the last one damaging. That was good enough for me, so I harvested the squash and pumpkin. They are curing on the *new* deck. This isn't all of them - I've eaten a squash (in soup) and given away a squash and a pumpkin. I have to say I am quite pleased with the harvest, especially considering I don't usually have much success with these. My only complaint was the way the vines took over the garden, making other garden activities difficult. At least, that is my excuse.

Let them eat cucurbita

Waltham Butternut squash

Small Sugar pumpkin

Rouge Vif d'Etamps pumpkin

Must be August

In June, the gardener knows it will be a while before she reaps. In July, the harvest begins. In August, more of the long-awaited crops come to fruition, plus the fall plantings start to grow.

Onion harvest - Copra and Red Zeplin

Burpless Beauty cucumber, growing vertically

Matt's Wild Cherry and Black Cherry tomatoes

Honey and Cream sweet corn

The pumpkin in the tomato bed keeps getting bigger and more orange

Pumpkin vine trying to escape the confines of the garden

Purple Pod pole beans, for fall harvest (fingers crossed)

I love mixing some flowers in amongst the veggies. The bees friend finally bloomed, so now we know what they look like. The zinnias will add color through the rest of the season.

Bee's Friend

Lilliput Mix zinnias

Fall planting

This past week, we had one of those horrible 90-degree days when the air is barely breathable. Just one. This morning, the weather felt almost autumn-like. A good reminder to get the fall garden planted.

In the past, before retirement (BR), I didn't always plant a fall crop of anything, as I was usually knee deep in tomatoes by now. Also, while gardening is always unpredictable, fall is more so. For one thing, most of what gets planted likes cool weather and August is usually anything but cool. Then, just as the temps start to moderate, frost may occur. So fall plantings are more of a crap shoot than spring or summer, but it's hard to resist an empty bed.

In the sixteen squares above, I planted roots - beet, rutabaga, turnip, carrot, radish - plus lettuce and spinach and kale and broccoli, all from seed. Since the pole beans were not able to complete with the corn and pumpkin, I also planted some of those in their own bed, as well as a short row of snap peas behind the endamame (which are languishing under pumpkin vines).

Speaking of pumpkin, the two varieties I planted continue their attempt to dominate the entire garden. I found this big boy in the tomato bed, a good 25 feet to the SSE of where the vines started.

Its smaller cousin breached the corn. I planted two varieties, both supposedly small, and now I am not sure which is which. I *think* the green ones are Rouge Vif d'Etamps while the orange ones are Burpee small(?!?) sugar.

Joining the pumpkin is butternut squash. While not quite as sprawling as the pumpkin, it too is doing its best to wander far and farther.

And, as far as squash is concerned, size *does* matter.

Just ask the zucchini.

We ate at Five Guys last night. I said I didn't care where we ate, as long as they did not serve zucchini. Or cucumbers (except as pickles).

Actually, I like zucchini and have been trying out all kinds of new and unusual dishes, courtesy of the Internet. More on that later. Right now it is time for my afternoon nap.

Mid-July

It has been hot and humid here - almost August-like but not quite. And not for long - today the high might not even reach 70. At this rate, my tomatoes will never turn red/black/whatever color they are supposed to be. My cucumbers have not been producing, either, leaving me at the mercy of the farmers markets for my salad fixings. The corn is starting to tassel, though, and there is plenty of zucchini. And pumpkins.

I plan to harvest the garlic this week. The onions are falling down on their own, signaling their willingness to be rousted from their bed.

A few volunteer sunflowers are showing their sunny faces, while the ones I planted on purpose are lagging far behind.

And let's not forget the zinnias, so pretty and so easy to grow.

I have not spent very much time observing the comings and goings of the avian neighbors, but I did spot a couple of unusual ones recently. This, I believe, is a catbird.

And I think this is a female oriole of some kind, Baltimore or orchard.

This "critter" is actually a pea tendril wrapped around a pea vine.

On the less pretty side of the yard is the former meadow/incipient orchard. Yesterday I mowed most of the area while contemplating just what to plant there next year. I have room for seven dwarf fruit trees, eight if I sacrifice the stunted serviceberry. It's easy to get carried away when perusing catalogs - I'll have one (or more) of each - but I'm trying to pay attention to what makes sense for me, a fruit lover who lives alone and whose boyfriend does not like fruit much but whose family members are willing recipients of the surplus. And there is the "dirty dozen" and their cousins to consider. I'm thinking a peach (Red Haven, of course), a sour cherry, some apples. And then what? I have until next spring to mull it over.

Random Monday

1. For my garden, I bought somewhat expensive grow bags from Gardeners Supply. A neighbor demonstrates that blue cloth bags from Walmart are just as good.

2. I've had worse flooding in my front yard, but last week's too-much-too-fast rainfall demonstrates drainage is still a problem here. My next door neighbor thinks the storm sewer is becoming more of a problem, but I think the ground is saturated which means more water needs to go into the sewer, a sewer that can't handle it. I sent this photo to the mayor and my city council rep.

3. I've tried growing pumpkin before, but never have I had plants like these. Inside the fence, they are taking over their end of the garden. I'm still having woodchuck problems, and I read that woodchucks eat pumpkins, so if these plants survive the usual onslaught of squash pests, I hope I don't lose the fruit in the end.

4, It's raspberry season. 'Nuff said.

Garden roundup for June

We had a little dry spell, but otherwise the rainfall has been plentiful, resulting in a burst of garden growth that is filling the raised beds and beyond. Despite the rodent damage (I fluctuate between blaming rabbits or woodchucks) and accompanying avian damage, there will be plenty to harvest (knock on wood).

Two of the three sisters, pumpkin and corn, are waiting for the germination of the pole beans. The corn is barely getting above the pumpkin, which is sprawling out of its bed. I've never had much luck with pumpkin or winter squash because of squash pests, but things look healthy so far (more knocking on wood). I don't know why I continue to plant marigolds - they always get overshadowed.

The potatoes are starting to bloom, which means they should be making potatoes. I was hoping to get more dirt into their beds but life intervenes. Maybe it's not too late?

There will be sauce. There are twelve Roma tomato plants in this bed (and four overshadowed marigolds). I'm dreaming of Eric's marinara (from Poor Man's Feast) and pizza sauce (from Preserving by the Pint).

So far, only male blossoms on the zucchini. A friend posted this recipe for zucchini chips that I am anxious to try. Soon, hopefully.

I was extremely pleased with the storage capability of last year's 'Big Daddy' onions, but tried some new varieties this year, including this 'Red Zeppelin'. It's pretty, if nothing else.

I'm still a newbie when it comes to growing raspberries. When I pruned and thinned them after last year's harvest, I thought I did an admirable job. Now the little bed is just bursting at the seams and the plants so loaded with fruit, they are bending under the weight. I'm a little concerned that the berries themselves will be small and seedy from the plants being too dense, but there definitely will be lots. Must protect them from the birds.

In the future, I will also have to protect the peas from the birds. Sparrows and finches ravaged the plants this year, presumably because their spring food supplies were scarce after last winter. I did not realize just how badly they were damaging the plants, especially the blossoms, so few pea pods developed. BUT the ones that did appear are wonderful.

I've been looking for a good pod pea and I think I have found it in this 'Green Arrow' variety.

Despite the rodent damage, my poor broccoli plants are trying to make heads. I am not holding out much hope that they will develop to any meaningful size, but I will be happy to be surprised.

I do not even remember ordering hops last year. The rhizomes simply appeared in the mail one day. I stuck them in a big pot because I did not know what else to do with them, and they grew. I forgot to move the pot into the garage last fall, so did not expect them to survive the winter, but they did. Someday I will find them a more permanent home. Meanwhile, I am not having much luck getting them to climb. This funky trellis, assembled with my SO's help, is the latest attempt.

The Meyer lemon tree continues to recover from my neglect. We recently added manure to the asparagus beds, and some manure tea is being used here and there, especially here. I want to keep this plant healthy.

I recently harvested scapes from the garlic, making a garlic scape pesto with some and putting the rest into a stir fry. One secret I learned to harvesting the scapes is to snap them off, sort of like trimming asparagus, to avoid the hard, unchewable parts.

It helps to have a garden cat guarding the garden.