01 September 2011

My late August garden update

Okay, so it's a week later than promised.  The school thing has thrown me for a loop.  Plus the job thing takes time.  Plus, I ran out of planner pages and I'm just floating from task to task, not really knowing if I'm getting the important stuff done or not. 

What was a jungle of green has kind of cleared out a bit.  The landlady cut back the sprinklers a lot and I didn't notice for a while, so I've had a few issues from that.  The buttercup squash vine that attacked the tomato trellis suddenly got too heavy and yanked a bunch of tomatoes down, so things don't look very orderly right now.  In fact it looks pretty messy. 

All of the squash plants have come down with a case of powdery mildew, so after this picture was taken, I went a little crazy pruning out the affected leaves.  In thanks, the zucchini plant spit out four more squashes.  I thought it had given up, but here it comes again!  Hopefully, the plants can get a little more air circulation in there now.  The neighbor lady said that all of her squash got it too and then she shared some of her pear tomatoes with me.

The tomatoes just keep coming, and I love it.  It's kind of funny to have so many, since I'm really the only tomato lover in the house.  My husband did help me clean up two big bowls of fresh salsa though.  I forgot to buy more corn chips at the store, or I would probably be having salsa for lunch again today.

The regular cucumbers have been a disappointment.  Two strangely shaped cukes is all I got from those two plants.  I have harvested several lemon cucumbers and those plants seem to be making some more.  The beans are done.  They won't forgive my not noticing the water situation, but a neighbor says that she has some for me.

My counter is covered with tomatoes and I have a few summer squash sitting in the fridge, waiting for me to get more inspiration on how to prepare them.  And that's my August garden update.  I'm waiting for the weather to cool a bit so I can try again for peas and spinach in the fall.  I love how this hot weather makes those tomatoes turn red, but I'm about ready for some crisp days to come along.

6 comments:

  1. WOW your tomatoes! I suppose you heard about my attacks of horn worms, it's just pitiful. That buttercup looks good! Isn't it amazing the amount of veggies you can get from small spaces? I think you did really well!

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  2. I am the only tomato lover in my house also. But, more salsa for me! I have had some trouble with worms and squash bugs in my zucchini. I am also looking forward to fall. My favorite season.

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  3. I do remember the hornworm incidents Sharon. My neighbor found one and we were all on alert, but no more showed up, thank goodness.
    Aside from some fat grasshoppers, we've been pretty good with pests. Still haven't figured out how to repel an 18 month old though. She's the biggest pest as far as the garden goes.

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  4. Still waiting for my first ripe tomato, can you believe it? That's what I get for planting in late June -- and in too much shade! :)

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  5. Nancy, in Wyoming I would get my first red tomato a few days before the first frost. Here in Utah we've had so much heat, the tomatoes did great.

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  6. Hope your garden venture was all you'd hoped for. If you haven't seen this post, you should take a peek. You might find some possibilities for another year.

    http://simple-green-frugal-co-op.blogspot.com/2011/09/from-straw-big-things-will-grow.html

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