Rainfall
- 1st: 0.28"
- 2nd: 0.01"
- 12th: 0.18" (Francine)
- 17th: 0.8" (Eight)
- 18th: 0.15"
- 24th: 3.0"
- 25th: 0.72"
- 26: 6.11" (Helene)
- 27th: 3.71"
- 29th: 0.02"
- Total: 15 inches
Temperature
- range of nighttime lows: 54 to 71°F (12 to 22°C)
- range of daytime highs: 75 to 91°F (24 to 33°C)
Garden Notes
- The garden is definitely winding down.
- Several items on my harvest list are "last ones" status
- We're getting a second flush of green beans
- I've been clearing out spent summer beds for the fall garden.
Planted:
- turnips
- daikons
- kale
- lettuce
- carrots
- parsnips
- garlic
- Italian leaf cabbage
- collards
- winter wheat
Harvested
- cherry tomatoes
- slicing tomatoes (the last few)
- okra
- green beans
- yamberries
- hopniss
- pears
- black turtle beans
- oregano
- rosemary
- basil
- muscadines
- field corn
- peppers
- squash
- turnip greens (thinnings)
Preserved
- green beans, canned
- tomatoes, canned as sauce
- pears, as wine
- muscadines, frozen
Photos
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| typical September picking bucket |
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| typical September salad: cherry tomatoes, green pepper, chopped squash |
About those squash. I thought I had summer squash growing in the pasture, but it turns out the seed was actually sweet potato squash, a winter variety. These are excellent keepers, but now we know that the small immature ones make an excellent substitute for summer squash (which doesn't grow well for me). We've been eating them sauteed, roasted, in salads, and I canned some for a quick winter veggie. Also . . .
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| when midsize, they make excellent stuffed squash. |
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| Maturing sweet potato squash, to be picked soon for pantry storage |
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| The corn is done, but the stalks still make excellent bean poles. |
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| My peppers just puttered along all summer, and have finally decided to produce. |
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| Katy spotted snoozing in the sweet potatoes |
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| sweet potato flowers |
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| Jing okra flowers. The buds are pink, but they bloom yellow. |
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| Daikons for the fall garden. They'll take frost and a light freeze, but don't like a hard freeze. But they store well. |
We really like daikons. They grow well for us and the small young roots can be eaten like radishes. The young leaves are tasty in salads. I use both mature roots and leaves in my kimchi. (More in this post, Experimenting With Daikons.) And of course, the goats will eat them at any stage.
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| Turnips for the fall garden. Purple Tops are our hardiest winter root crop. |
Lots of rain now, making up for our dry spell earlier. It's welcome!
How about your garden? Anyone still getting anything?
Garden Notes: September 2024 © Sept. 2024
19 comments:
We are getting lovely greens from the new hot frame. Haven't had frost yet, so still cherry tomatoes being harvested...there are sooo many! Working away on pepper stuff, as the peppers have done fabulously. Made red pepper jelly yesterday, and today plan on roasted red pepper ketchup. Broccoli, cabbage and rutabaga still out there producing and growing, spuds and carrots still in the ground, and my one zuc. still producing. Clear sky this AM after several days of needed rain...so back out at it!
Those are beautiful sweet spud, okra, ...and Katy flowers! Will have to check out your Daikon post.
I love how your garden is getting along and how you note the progress. I one day hope to be so self sufficient with my garden . Here in Texas still hot and humid. Green sprouts for Fall garden are coming up.
Rosalea, what great ideas for peppers. Sounds like you are still getting a bountiful harvest. I finally pulled most of my cherry tomatoes because it was more than I needed this late in the season.
I hope your first frost is much delayed!
I picked two baskets full just yesterday after four days of not venturing out to it. Mostly it was tomatoes but I probably picked a triple handful each of Japanese peppers and okra along with ten eggplants. Besides a few volunteer daikon still growing, we also have a Asian squash putting on fruits. Last week we picked a basketful of Brussel sprouts which were delicious and not bitter. I did that in hopes that the plant would spend more energy filling out the top most sprouts on the plant before the first killing frost. On the preservation side, I am cooking down the last batch of tomatoes I'll can this year to fill some stray empty jars. After that, if I can't give them away, I'll cut down the vines and compost them. My garlic should arrive next week so I can get that planted. I'm excited to start growing it again after nearly a decade plus absence.
Hi Holly, welcome! I think garden self-sufficiency is very much a whim of the weather. It really does help, though, to keep some sort of record. Helps me remember what worked and what didn't. :)
Ed, I have been so impressed with your garden this year. You've gotten wonderful harvests. Moving it from the farm was a good call.
Sweet potato flowers really are beautiful.
I will post sometime here soon, but I have gotten my "balcony garden" up and running. Low expectations this year: lettuce, spinach, garlic, and 2-3 kinds of grains.
TB, yay for your balcony garden! Something is definitely better than nothing. And you will get your first experience gardening in your new location. That will serve you well in the future.
You might already know this, but sweet potatoes are in the morning glory family. Just a lot more useful.
I can't help but notice that your potato squash looks quite similar to the volunteers I have growing out in the chook run. The one I sampled did remind me of a baked potato. Hmmm...
Your harvest is still abundant.
We have Red Ripper beans, Seminole pumpkin, Cushaw squash, sweet potatoes, and okra from the summer garden. I've just recently transplanted lettuces, kale, cabbage and broccoli for the fall garden.
May your harvests be plenty!
I want to plant sweet potato squash. It has be intrigued. We planted a new squash this year - mashed potato squash. Our garden is winding down too, but I cannot get into it for several days now. The rain has arrived from the hurricane in FL, and we are to get rain for the next 4 days (or more). At least the plants and stakes will pull out much easier. Prior to this we were in a drought. Our greens were a fail in our raised bed. The heat, combined with drought was too much. Despite watering.
Hello Leigh. Wondering how Helene effected you folks? Are you OK?
Hoping you guys didn't get too much damage from the storm! Here was only 1.5" rain and some higher winds than I have ever had at this homestead. Guessing 60+mph. Only tree debris down, luckily no trees fell. It whipped the babanas, sugar cane and other taller stuff but they mostly survive. Power out 18hr and an extra day to get internet working. I am harvesting persimmons and lucky that they didn't blow off the trees. At a half # to 1# a piece they could have been a mess!
Been worried about you guys. Did the storm give you any damage?
Leigh ok? Wishing I had a phone number for you. I send you a email about two days ago. Prayers up .
Hope you are ok. Cecilia
Cecilia, thank you for asking! We just got our internet back this evening. It was out for 5 days. Electricity was out for 3, but thankfully, we fared quite well, considering how many trees destroyed power lines. We only had one fence taken out by a tree, otherwise, just a massive yard cleanup of leaves and branches.
I’m glad you’re okay! Thank you for letting us know!
Deb, thank you! We had 3 days without electricity and 5 without internet. The only damage was a tree taking out part of a fence. Otherwise we fared well. :)
Goatldi, finally okay! Phone number wouldn't have done any good because we have internet phone. No internet - no phone! All is well and I hope to have a blog post out tonight.
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