Just Checking Out the Broccoli That My Plants are Starting to Produce

You read that right my broccoli plants are actually starting to produce fruit right now.  I wasn't sure when they would start producing, but I checked on some of them and they have broccoli right in the center of the stem.  This is where the first broccoli grows and from then on they will grow as shoots on the side throughout the year.

I was a little surprised that they are starting right now, but it is almost October so this is about the right time for them to begin producing.  Take a look at these two plants that I found to be producing broccoli.

The last zucchini and large bean harvest has been completed today.  I actually picked my last zucchini yesterday and now I can say all my squash plants are done for the season.  Since I picked my pumpkins the other day I can now focus on getting some more beans, peppers, and broccoli.

 












My beans are not completely done yet and I still have plenty of pickings to come as long as I keep watering them or we get some rain.  For now the largest harvests are over and my plants are just starting to wind down there production capacity.

Today the Focus is on My Pumpkin Harvest

Yes that is right I ended up picking my pumpkins a little bit earlier than usual.  I love picking them in the month of October because this is when I tend to use them the most between the fall weather and Halloween.  Carving up pumpkins is one of the best things about growing these vegetables, but my favorite part of pumpkins are the seeds. 

I clean off the seeds and place them on a pan with some spices and vegetable oil and bake them in the oven.  They are very delicious and I am looking forward to cutting them for this reason.  Just two of the pumpkins that were picked today need to be cut very soon because they were starting to decay by being outside.  If I got any more rain I am sure the decay would have progressed very fast.  Thankfully no rain came recently.

Another vegetable that I would like to talk about today are my eggplants.  Three eggplants were harvested today and I have only a couple of eggplants left.  I still have quite a few plants, but in terms of fruit there are about three that are still growing.  The weather is definitely getting too cool for them so I am not looking to getting any more of them this season except for the three that are out there right now.

The bad news is that today I also picked the very last cucumber for this season.  I didn't think my cucumber plants would have ended this soon, but with the cooler weather and less sun time I guess it was their time.  I got plenty of cucumbers this season and with all the relish I made I think this will last through the Winter months until next year's harvest.

The Last Cantaloupe and Weeds Infesting My Broccoli Plants

One of the things I did this year for my fall crop especially broccoli was to place mulch (mainly grass clippings) all around the base of the plants.  This is a sure way not only to hold water during dry spells, but to help them with keeping weeds away from the roots.  I only had enough just to place around the plants, but not in between the rows.

This is where the bulks of the weeds appeared.  When it rains and there is a sunny day after the weeds just go crazy and start growing everywhere.  Wherever there is no mulch all the weeds began growing.  Removing them is what I did this week over a couple of days.  I would say it took about eight to nine hours total to remove every weed that I could see.

I think I did a pretty good job weeding and that is how it should look like all the time.  When I get another batch of grass clippings either tomorrow or during the weekend I will place them throughout and make sure that no weeds will grow up for the rest of the year.

No more cantaloupes growing anymore because I just picked the only one left from the summer season.  It had been pollinated later than the others, but it still grew to a good enough size.  I don't mind if my cantaloupes are small because they are not large fruit to begin with.

I had a few peppers that were ready today and plenty are on their way to becoming ripe.  I probably have at least ten more peppers that are growing on all my plants and many of them are continuing to flower.  I have had a good year for peppers and looking to collect many more.  Right now only five were ripe enough to pick.

Last, but not least nine pounds of beans were on the list for harvesting.  I didn't know I had nine pounds until I began picking them from my vines.  I still have plenty left to pick with new ones continuing to grow every day.

Here Come the Eggplant Harvests

Finally I have picked the first of my eggplants this week.  I actually began picking this afternoon because it was nice weather especially after the rain storms we got yesterday.  I would admit that we definitely needed the rain because we were in a small drought.  The rain was definitely a relief especially for much of my garden and plants.

Two eggplants were the final total for today, but there are still some on other plants that I will pick at a later date.  For now I have only two, but this is enough to make a good meal out of them.  I am not sure when the others will be done, but I am sure that it won't be tomorrow and most likely next week is what I am aiming for hopefully.  Check out the eggplants I got below.

Eggplants were not the only thing that was ripe enough to pick because I had beans, peppers, and cucumbers that needed to be harvested.  My peppers were definitely in need of picking because many of them were actually staring to turn red.  I like to pick them just before they overripe because this is as big as they will get.  I did end up getting a bright red one along with some green as well.

Beans are a hot item in the garden and with their incredible ability to produce flowers quickly they are still growing and I have plenty of more harvests to come.  Even though I picked quite a bit this evening I saw that there were many more to come.  Some were real small while others were almost ripe, but not quite ready to be picked.  Hopefully I will do another harvest soon.

Cucumbers are the one plant that is doing quite well although some of the plants are done for the season because they are brown and are pretty much dead.  I still have three to five plants left that are giving me more cucumbers to harvest.  I picked five today and have a couple more outside that I will harvest soon.  There are real tiny ones on a few of the plants that I am hoping will be pollinated so I can have more of them to pick.  Cucumbers I can easily make into a sweet relish.

Picking More Beans Seems to be the Trend

Right now my beans are exploding and they are continuing to get more flowers on them which leads to more beans for me to pick.  Around this time is usually the peak of my bean vines in terms of picking and harvesting.  I do not know if I will have many more harvests to make, but as long as they keep growing I will be there to get all of them.

Some other vegetables were on the ropes of being picked and I wanted to mention those too.  One pepper, a cucumber, and just a couple more zucchinis were picked this past week.

This is all I was able to pick this week.  The beans I picked a few hours ago and everything else happened yesterday.

Some More Vegetables That Were Ready for Picking

Just some more vegetables that I had to pick this week because they were ready to be placed on the table and eaten.  For example before getting too tough to eat I need to make sure that I pick my ears of corn right away.  I don't like to eat tough corn and this year they have actually been quite good.  I am looking forward to next season by saving one ear to use as seeds.  That is still on the stalk and I won't pick it until October or when it is dry enough.

Exactly 21 ears were ready to be picked and eaten.  Although I did not eat all of them I still did cook them and placed them in the refrigerator where they can stay good enough for quite a while.

Again I also had beans which are going to be stored for use during the Winter time like I did last season.  They lasted quite a while and I still have a few left from last season's harvest because I had picked so many of them.  I don't think I picked as many this year, but I still got an average crop which will be stored.  Nine pounds came out this week so far.

Large peppers are always the best to pick, but not all the time are they going to be big.  This year most of the early plants have been producing large peppers which is really great.  I don't think I have ever grown peppers of this size before.  This season has been great for peppers and I am looking forward to pick even more of them.