October 25, 2014

Garden's Summer End

We're awaiting our first frost. No complaints about it's not being here yet, because that means we're still getting a few things from the garden; like tomatoes and peppers.


Also enough okra for an occasional sidedish.


Still harvesting black turtle beans. The plants are about played out but I'll continue to get a few more until frost kills them.


We just finished harvesting sweet potatoes the other day. Some of the Beauregards are huge.


These are from slips that I bought at the feed store. I planted them first. Some of you may recall the trouble I had making my own slips, until I figured out the culprit was our city water. The Vardamans were planted later and are not so big.


They are prettier than the Beauregards, but there aren't as many because I only planted one bed.

Zuchetta summer squash is maturing for next year's seed. Ditto for green beans.


And look what likes the lovely October weather!


I ought to have planted a fall garden by now, but have decided that the garden needs a major overhaul. I'm going to get everything harvested and then we're going to go at it. More on that later.

16 comments:

Unknown said...

What do you do with okra and what does it taste like.

Anonymous said...

Sounds like you are going to be busy. We are now in spring and I still need to get the old winter veg pulled out. No have never seen okra in Australia and would not know what to do with it!

Kris said...

Glad you are still getting goodies from the garden. All I'm getting now is drifts of leaves! Those turtle beans look great. What variety are they? I bought a sweet potato from the market the other day. It's as big as a football. Will see if it's all show when I chop/roast it up this week.

Leigh said...

Kris and livecheaperdaybyday (welcome BTW!) our favorite way is oven fried (recipe here. Also sauteed, recipe here. We also chop it and add to stewed tomatoes or Creole gumbo. It's a beautiful plant, a member of the hibiscus family. :)

Kris, I don't think those turtle beans had a variety name. I bought them originally from Shumway as simple "Black Turtle Beans". That was about 4 years ago. I've saved some for seed ever since.

I'm curious to try that huge sweet potato for a pie. If they aren't as tasty as the little ones, I'll chop them up and feed them to the goats and pigs.

Leigh said...

OK, it's too early in the morning! I meant to say Lynda and livecheaperdaybyday

Harry Flashman said...

You're playing your string out to the end, still getting food out of your garden this late. We've already had the first frost up here. It's chilly this morning, got down to the low 40's last night.

Renee Nefe said...

we have had a few frosts, but the garden is still doing well on my back porch. The heat the house and porch retain seem to be able to keep the plants happy. This info makes me want to build my own greenhouse. A friend posted online how to construct one out of a hog panel that looks pretty easy. I just have to convince hubby. ;)

DFW said...

That Beauregard is huge! I'm going to dig up my few sweet potatoes next weekend. Can't believe you're still getting tomatoes.

Rob said...

So how do you like your new digs??

Dani said...

You're getting to the end of your harvest and I'm itching to start mine lol

I'm also investigating a new growing method - more as I finalize the details :)

Cozy Thyme Cottage said...

The last fruits of the garden are so special! Bittersweet to see it end for the season! Nancy

Leigh said...

Harry, I always feel fortunate when our first frost delays. Some years we would have had it by now!

Renee, I'm wanting to try a panel greenhouse as well. I'm curious as to how much longer it would extend our harvest season. :)

DFW, isn't it! The Beauregards have a touch of black rot too, unfortunately. Even so I'm going to try a sweet potato pie tomorrow. No matter what, they make good goat feed. :)

Rob, absolutely fantastic! :)

Dani, I can't wait to read about it! I've picked up some good tips from you and your garden.

Nancy, I so agree.

Ngo Family Farm said...

We had an early September frost that zapped almost everything, but gorgeous days since! Funny to think if that one day didn't happen I might still have tomatoes at Halloween! Ah well. I'm going back to raised bed gardening next year I think - I may not have given enough seasons to the wood chip method, but I'm finding it too labor intensive for this stage of my life. Excited to see what your plans are going forward.
-Jaime

Laura said...

I've already had frost 4 times, with the next one due Sunday night/Monday am. I have most of the critical plantings under a hoop house, but there are some that I haven't moved to that bed (it's the perennial herb bed), so they'll get covered.

Your garden is so productive - I'm very envious. I have to build more beds - I live on top of several old lava flows, so there's not much "soil" to speak of, so all of my gardening is done in raised beds - 4 x 8, 1 ft tall. They work really well.

Happy Autumn!

Sandy Livesay said...

Leigh,

I can't get over how big that Beauregard is..........this was the largest. Were there others close to this size?

Not planting a fall garden gives you opportunity to dedicate time on other things on the homestead.

Leigh said...

Jaime, with all your little ones, the last thing you need is labor intensive, LOL. Actually, the older I get the less labor intensive I need as well. Once the harvest kicked in the garden went to pot. Well, not pot, but the wiregrass absolutely took over. The only mulch it will not grow up through is cardboard, at lest not for that season.

Laura, happy autumn back at 'ya! Productivity is all about climate, isn't it? I'm fortunate to have a long growing season, but it lets weeds take an advantage sometimes. I can see how raised beds would work really well for you.

Sandy, actually there were quite a few Beauregards that size. I did get one raised bed planted with salad veggies, plus I have the Jerusalem artichokes, but I lament not having nice beds of kale and collards right now. Also less root crops than usual. But we have to do something and you're right about getting other things done. :)