Sunny Sunflower
It's a blustery sun-filled morning and there is a lot to do. Our soy beans are pretty much ready and the plants have taken on a brownish tinge. We will uproot the plants in their entirety and have room for a few last minute crops. We still have a decent amount of greens that we can plant, so we'll keep the arugula coming, lettuce, bok choi, spinach and our "sassy salad" mix. We had planned early on to make a bed shaped cold frame or cloche in which case we might plant some more swiss chard, kale or some root crops.
Bed of beets carrots parsnips and leeks.
The late blight finally arrived and the change in our tomatoes was fast and dramatic; the black splotches on the stems and dead swathes of leaves. We will harvest a lot of the older tomatoes, even the green ones and let them ripen up off the vine. The plants are of the indeterminate variety which means they continue to grow and flower through out the season. Therefore the newer growth and fruit is still viable and we'll let it continue for as long as it can.
The squash borer and powdery mildew has all but destroyed our pumpkin crop beneath the corn. Today, we finally dug out the little grubs. The far reaches of the vines are still green, but I doubt we'll have our group pumpkin carving like I'd planned. We have a viable vine of another winter squash (thelma sanders sweet potato squash) that for the moment is fine and putting out fruit.
The corn is still coming in and really towers over the yard along with the sunflowers.
Soybean Harvest
Trellis with cukes and beans, and newly planted greens.
Zinnia
Row of basil, arugula, and beets.
Gardening can be a heartbreaking business. Reading about your powdery mildew, squash borer and the tomato blight brings back (painful) memories of my one summer of gardening. But your garden still looks beautiful and your photography is stunning.
ReplyDeleteBelated Happy Anniversary, by the way!! Can't believe it's been a year!