Around the Garden

It's a jungle out there...well, pretty close. Things are getting a little wild and crazy in parts of the garden. The tomato plants are starting to lean over, heavy with tomatoes to ripen, the pole beans are reaching out looking for more trellis to grow on, the cucumbers, zucchinis, squash and pumpkins have left their individual raised beds and are spreading out far and wide, and we keep harvesting greens, beets, and carrots, but can't seem to put a dent in what is out there. It has been a pretty good gardening year. Yes, some things did better than others, that happens every year, but really we have nothing to complain about. The pantry shelves are filling up, over 100 jars of food have been put by so far, and the freezer is filling up fast.

I am still fighting the cabbage worms in the garden, and with all the rain and cooler temperatures, powdery mildew has hit the squash, zucchini and pumpkin. This happens pretty much every year around this time, but this year seems a little worse. I have been spraying them with my trusty water, dish soap, and baking powder mixture, and trying to control it. The plants are still producing, and sending out new leaves, so I am hopeful I can keep them around a little longer. The cucumber plants look brutal from all the hail damage, but the cucumbers keep on coming, and the pole beans are coming along great and providing us with lots of beans, for both meals and putting by.

The strawberry plants are getting close to giving us some late season strawberries, and as soon as they ripen, I will be taking them all out. This is their third year, and production is dropping. I am planning to move them next year, and will start fresh with some new plants. This bed will be worked over, amended with some compost and fresh soil, and will wait for garlic to be planted in late October.

The fall and winter beds are doing great. Seeds are sprouting, and this week will see a little bit of thinning here and there. We are hoping to get the tunnels up on the two raised beds this weekend, and then once the cooler weather hits we can get the covers on and protect our precious food for the fall and winter.

I moved a little soil into the empty potato beds, getting this area ready for berries next year...blueberries and raspberries. We are also adding some blackberries in another area of the yard, and will have the new bed of strawberries.

The harvests keep rolling in. I head out at meal times to pick a little bit here and there, and Justin usually hears me yelling from the garden to bring a few bowls out. You would think after all these years of gardening I wouldn't be surprised at how fast everything grows and ripens in the garden during these late August days, but here I am again, surprised and loving it.

The chickens were out, roaming about, when I snapped photos of the garden yesterday afternoon, so you get a few photos of them, free ranging around the yard.

How are things around your garden?