Coming to the End of the Season with Very Few Summer Crops Left

 Now that the weather is starting to get cooler and the sun setting much earlier the garden season of 2022 is coming to a close.  The good news is that I still have spring crops which lasted all the way through the hot summer and are still producing good crops.  I have broccoli, brussel sprouts, and kale growing in the garden, and I have some radishes that I had planted in my onion totes.  All of these plants thrive in the cooler weather and now that fall is just about here I may be picking more leaves and harvests from all these plants.

A frost has yet arrived which means the summer isn't over and I am still picking tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, and even potatoes.   Right now cucumbers, zucchini, and corn is definitely over for the season.  I had a good harvest from all of them and with just a couple of zucchini plants I was able to get some large fruit from them.  I actually planted them quite late and wasn't certain I was going to get anything from them, but in the end I got more than I had imagined for this year.

 

Eggplants are still thriving and have been picking them on a consistent basis since the beginning of September.  This is probably one of the best harvests of eggplants that I have ever had with only a dozen plants or so.  They are very large this season as well which was partly due to the hot weather we had.

 

Potatoes I had started picking last week after a long summer for these plants they finally began to turn brown which is the sign I look for when it's time for digging these vegetables up from the ground.  I had a poor Yukon gold harvest, but my Kennebec potatoes came out really well.  In total  I harvested about 28 pounds from my very first harvest of the season and I still have about six or so Kennebec plants still to be dug up.  These plants were not quite ready and they were still green in color and didn't want to dig them up until they started turning brown.   

 

Some of the potatoes started coming up from the ground and made sure to cover them up otherwise these potatoes would not be safe to eat.  When exposed to the sun they create a poisonous chemical which turns the potato green and is not safe to eat at all which is why you must keep an eye on your potatoes and make sure they are always covered or protected from sunlight exposure.

Looking Forward to Start Digging up My Potatoes

 Although I have been picking many vegetables from my garden including tomatoes, corn which is done for the season, peppers, zucchini, and even eggplants  I am still waiting for my potato plants to start turning brown.  When the plants are turning yellow or brown is the perfect time to start digging them up and begin using them in delicious meals and dishes.  I love potatoes and when they grow like they should they end up being one of my favorites vegetables to cook with.  

I am hoping that these new potatoes I planted this season are at least a decent size, but I will not know until I start digging them up.  The soil is beginning to crack from the potatoes and must make certain to keep them covered otherwise they will not be able to be eaten.  Always make sure that your potatoes not the plant are covered throughout the season.

Eggplants and zucchini are the latest vegetables to be harvested from the garden the past couple of weeks.  A couple of weeks ago I got the very first zucchini from the garden which I did not think I would get any this year because of the late seed planting.  These are plants I like to start inside, but due to the cold weather in May I was unable to start them in pots.  Instead I had to hope for enough room in between the tomato plants and enough sunlight in order to get them to sprout.  Luckily they did and so far I have picked two zucchinis this season.

Eggplants on the other hand I did start them inside and very early because they need plenty of time similar to watermelons which also require an adequate amount of time.  I saw a couple of plants that had some good sized eggplants that were almost ready to pick a week or two ago.  I took a look at them this week and decided that it was time to begin harvesting.  I harvested four eggplants with three over them are some of the largest eggplants I have ever grown.  I can't wait to make them into some eggplant Parmesan meals or possibly eggplant pizzas which are also very delicious.

 

More Vegetable Harvests Coming in the Near Future

 So far the main vegetables I have been harvesting over the past couple of weeks and months have been cucumbers and tomatoes.  Mostly cherry and beefsteak tomatoes have been harvested the most while my roma tomatoes are still green and will take some time to ripen.  With the amount of sunlight the garden has been receiving I thought that my romas would ripen about the same time as my others, but that is not the case.  I am sure within a couple of weeks or so they too will start ripening and I will then begin to harvest them along with all the others.

My spring crop plants are still up and producing a decent crop even though the weather is quite hot during this summer especially the last couple of weeks.  As long as the soil is kept cool and free of weeds they should thrive all the way through until the fall and possibly late in the year.  While they are producing I am continuing to pick leaves, broccoli, and soon brussel sprouts as long as they weather doesn't harm them.

Eggplants have also started to grow on a couple of plants in the garden.  Most of the plants look good, but only a couple that actually have some pollinated eggplants hanging from the plant.  I wouldn't be surprised if they were ripe enough next week or possibly earlier.  I don't think they will be ready this week, but I will probably start picking them sometime this month and hopefully by then all my other plants will begin producing large eggplants as well.

I am still picking cucumbers while my vines are still producing fruit.  They have been producing since mid June and I love picking and eating them.  Along with cucumbers cherry tomatoes have also been quite steady with the harvesting and they are perfect for salads.  unfortunately or fortunately my cherry tomatoes are quite large this season and have had to cut them in order to eat them.  They are just too large to eat whole, but there are a few that I find that I am able to eat whole.  I have also picked a couple of beefsteak tomatoes recently and can't wait to slice them up for delicious sandwiches.

 My zucchini seeds were planted quite late this year and I am finally beginning to see some production and fruit from some of the plants.  Most of the plants are still too small to begin flowering and I probably will not be able to get much from them.  There is one that is showing some hope and I hope that the vegetable flower has been pollinated so that I can have at least one zucchini for the season.  I would like to have a few, but with the late planting and lack of room I would be happy with at least one good sized zucchini.

It is All Over for the Onions and The Start of Fall Planting

 Mid July is about when the onion stems start falling and turning brown and this is the time when you need to dig them up because they are not going to get any bigger.  The heat is usually what gets to your onions and leaving them in the ground too long is something you want to avoid.  I always like drying them completely before I store them indoors whether it be a garage or in a basement.  A cool dry place is where you should put them to prevent fungi from growing on them and going bad.  If you dry them properly they should last a long time and I have had onions that have past the new year into the month of March.

 

Potatoes are another plant that I will have to dig up, but at the moment they are nowhere close to harvesting.  I would say about mid August they might be ready because right now they are starting to flower which is a good sign that harvesting might be right around the corner.  I don't have that many plants this season because many of them didn't sprout for whatever reason.  I am hoping that the ones that survived will produce a very decent crop as long as the weather doesn't end their season prematurely.  

Some of my eggplant plants are beginning to flower so that is something to look forward to in a month or two.  Peppers are also starting to produce more flowers and fruit.  My sweet peppers are the only ones that are looking good while my habaneras peppers are growing, but not thriving as much as my sweet peppers.  In fact I will probably start harvesting these peppers this week or next at the latest.

 

I have also started planting seeds for my fall crop into small pots and some in peat pots.  I have decided to grow radishes, peas, and testing another crop of red onions.  This would be a good time to start a crop of carrots in peat pots, but with very little room in the garden at the moment I will hold off on planting them right now or for the season.  If my potatoes are done early, then I might be able to plants some carrot seeds.  This all depends on various factors.  For now I am sticking with radishes and snow peas for the fall season.

 

No Time to Waste and Start Gardening

 Proper temperatures are here, the sun is shining, and flowers are blooming.  It is now time for gardening and getting all your plants and seeds into the ground and uncover plants from the winter season.  I spent the past couple of weeks planting seeds and transplanting many of my plants into the garden including potatoes, corn, tomatoes, kale, cucumbers, broccoli, and much more.  Due to the cold temperatures in the beginning of the spring season I had to catch up before I got too far behind.

I actually got most of my plants and seeds into the garden and finished up yesterday.  I still have other seeds that need to be planted such as my beans and carrots, but I will have to do it this coming weekend.  I still have to set up my bean trellis which is crucial if I want to have a good pole bean harvest.  

Setting up my tomatoes took a couple of days with digging holes for the posts that I will use to stake the plants and keep them from falling over and laying on the ground.  Then I had to dig holes for the plants themselves, and then finally actually transplanting them into the garden.  I have found that by putting the posts in first it makes planting them much easier and I can get them closer to the posts in order to make staking them a breeze.  

I haven't done any harvesting except for my strawberries which has been quite exceptional this year for a change.  Most of my plants survived the winter season and they came back without having to remove the straw from my plants.  I still need to weed them and go through removing the runners to prevent them from crowding other plants and the rows.  

Last year I removed much of the plants that were on top of each other and place new or young ones to take their place and this seems to have paid off.  With over 20 pounds of strawberries picked so far I think it was worth the effort.  I still have many more to pick as well.

 Yesterday I was able to get a couple seeds of melons and squash into the ground before it was too late to plant them.  I was quite late this season especially when it comes to melons and squash.  I didn't get to plant pumpkins, but I am not worried because I can still do that this weekend at the latest.  I will just have to find some room before it will be too late.

I wanted to take advantage of the rain that we got today and that is why I wanted to get all my seeds and transplants into the ground before today.  Yesterday I finished adding eggplant, peppers, tomatoes, squash seeds, melon seeds, and some flower seeds into the garden.

 

Are You Getting Excited for the New Garden Season?

 

I am certainly getting excited for the next garden season to get started.  I have already begun planting some seeds indoors at the beginning of the month of March.  The most of the planting was just my flowers that I always start first.  They are usually the first start the season and the last to end the season each and every year.  They are very important for the garden and that is why I love giving them the biggest head start that  I can.  Once they start sprouting and growing they are just about ready to go outside.

 

This does not mean that they are ready to be transplanted into the garden, but they are ready for cooler temperatures than what they have been growing in indoors.  So far the temperatures are still a little bit too cold for them and that is why I will keep them indoors for a little while longer while the temperatures warm up a bit.  So far they are growing well indoors and look forward to getting them outside as quickly as possible with weather permitting of course.

 

With cold frames it is possible to start a spring crop right about now, but I have decided to just have a very small spring crop with some cabbage, kale, lettuce, and maybe some celery.  Still deciding whether  I should be growing radishes and snow peas.  Depending on how some of my seeds sprout will depend if I grow more in the garden for the springtime.

 

Celery is one of those seeds that is best started  in peat pots.  Starting them in the ground is a difficult as starting other small seed plants in the garden.  Some of these seeds include carrots, celery, and possibly a variety of flower seeds which tend to be very small.  This is why I start them indoors in various types of containers depending on what I happen to be planting.

 

In the beginning of the season I start out with dill, alyssum, and a mix of different wildflowers that help get all the insects I need for the season hopefully.  These three I have found to grow best in large containers with hundreds of seeds and plants.  This method works well for me and makes it much easier to transplant them into the garden once all the roots have wrapped around each other.  For now it is just time for waiting for a little bit better weather and spring time is just around the corner.