Cleanup

Took some pictures while working on fall cleanup today.  Here is a homemade cloche I'm working on with some self-seeded lettuce underneath.

Champion Chard.  Still going strong in late October.  Looks pretty in the light too.

More bloom pictures.

Fall Roundup

Just some thoughts on the vegetable varities that I tried this year...

Tomatoes:  

-The Sungold cherry tomatoes are an A++.  Plentiful and great tasting.

-The striped German were large and meaty.  Maybe a little juicy as a slicing tomatoe, but good.

-The Brandywine variety that I bought as a seedling never really took off.  The fruit was much smaller then they were supposed to be, and a little dissapointing overall.

Zucchini:

-Just tried the Costata Romanesco this year, which was really good.  Maybe split these with a smaller variety next year also.

Lab Lab Beans looked great on the trellis.  Never ate any though.

Melon:

None of the three melon varities that I tried this year ever really got off the ground.  Two softball size Sugar Baby watermelons are still sitting in the garden, and the other types withered and died in the alternating rain and drought.

All the salad greens were good- any type of lettuce seems to work fine and the Chard was hardy.

Some things  I'd like to integrate next year:

-Sweet Corn

-Pumpkins

-Strawberries

-Fruit Trees

-Rhubarb

Blooms

'Sungold' and 'Brandywine' Tomato, and 'Costata Romanesco'  Zucchini.

Fruits of my labor

August 18th

The August garden.  Some things, like lettuce and peas, have peaked and now gone by the wayside.  While others, like tomatoes, melons and zucchini are just coming into their peak time.  In general things are lush to the point of being a bit overgrown.  The biggest task is just trying to keep everything (weeds included) from getting too out of control.

"Ruby Moon" (or "Lab-Lab")  These are a bean in the hyacinth family.  Although the pods are very much edible I like them mostly for their vigorous climbing and bright purple pods and flowers.  These are probably the most distinctive plants in the garden.

This tangle is a formerly tidy lettuce area.  Both seed varieties ("Red Star", and "Red Grand Rapid Galactic") were productive and tasty.  Unfortunately the high heat did them in and they are both very much bolted.  There were also radishes interplanted with the lettuce (D'Avignon)  which grew well and looked good, but did not taste great.  It may be that we are just not used to the taste of radishes, but I think that the soil may have just been to poor for a root crop like a radish.

 

"Magenta Sunset"  This was a second planting of swiss chard after the initial early one.  (May-June maybe)  I haven't given it much attention but it still thriving despite all the hot weather we've had.  I thought chard was more cool weather- but this variety seems not to mind the heat.

"Sarah's Choice"  A hybrid cantaloupe (or muskmelon) looks to be coming along nicely.

"Sugar Baby" A smallish supposedly sweet traditional watermelon.  This is the biggest one so far so we've a way to go before tasting any.

"Costata Romanesco"  This Zucchini is by far the most vigorous plant in the garden.  We have enjoyed lots of very, very tasty zucchini from these plants, but next year I could plant half as many and be fine. (3-4 plants would be plenty)

"Sungold"  A hybrid variety from 'Johnnys Select'.  I'll probably grow this tomato every year that I have a garden.  It'd be fun to try other cherry varieties, but this one is so good, and so prolific it'd be hard to beat.

"Striped German".  An heirloom tomato grown from seed that I got from 'Johnnys Select.'  Looks pretty huge, but no ripe ones yet- so no idea on taste.

Another heirloom: "Brandywine"  This was the only plant I bought as a seedling from the Farmer's Market.  The other ones caught up to it quickly in terms of size, but this looks like it'll have the first ripe fruit.

Flowers from the "Lab-Lab" vines.

A selection of flowers from the herb/cutting flower garden.

The bones of the garden are pretty much done.

Lettuce

Chard

Sunflower, and Zinnia seeds are in the flower garden

The first seeds of spring

Swiss Chard

Lettuce

snap peas

Finally got the garden area fenced in.  Still a little but more to do, but its done for now.  Have pea, bean, lettuce, leek,  and chard seeds in the ground.  Still need to finish building trellising for peas & beans.  Nothing emerging yet, hopefully in the next few days.  

The trees are really coming in to their leaves.  Weather report says its going to be 70+ and sunny all week.  Haven't had much good rain in a week or so.