First Frost

Two nights ago we had our first frost, although the temperature only got down to 36. But with the colder temperatures coming, I pulled out most of the summer vegetable garden. 

I sliced and froze all the bell peppers, except for four, which I'll stuff for a couple of dinners. The zucchini had a few small fruits on it, so we'll have those soon. I have several jars of shredded zucchini in the freezer for zucchini bread. I have several aubergines, which I'll probably make into more ratatouille. 

When a substantial rain storm was predicted a couple of weeks ago, I picked all the tomatoes, mostly San Marzanos, which had any color on them. I put them in the guest room to ripen. I now have enough tomato soup for nine lunches, plus two trays of roasted tomatoes, with garlic, basil, and olive oil. I'm planning to use them on pizza, or maybe as a pasta topping. I had also canned 26 pints of cut up tomatoes. 

We still have lots of things in the garden for winter. I have a row of kohlrabi, a row of beets, a row of chard, and two rows of spinach. One bed has cabbage, Chinese cabbage, broccoli, and cauliflower, several plants of each. I have about twenty bok choy plants, plus a few short rows of mache, arugula, and Ethiopian kale. And I have a row of turnips and rutabagas. There is still some lettuce, but I don't expect that to last much longer. I planted a few snap peas at the end of the strawberry bed. They probably won't produce anything until next spring. And of course, there are still several rows of carrots.

I got just four delicata squash, which was a bit disappointing. Next year I'll grow a vining one instead of the bush variety. I also have three small 'Honey Nut' squash, which may or may not make it. They're still not ready to pick. Again, next year I'll do a full size butternut vine.

More Tomatoes

Today I picked the first Cherokee Purple tomatoes and the first bell pepper. We had one tomato for lunch. Yummy! I picked the second aubergine, with several more smaller ones to be ready soon. The Boothby's Blonde cucumbers have been producing nicely. Two more today.

I've started some pak choi, which is now up, as is the chard. The broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage that I started in the ground had not been doing well, so I moved them into small pots. I think the problem has been the roots of the arbor vitae hedge next door. The ground is almost solid tiny roots. 

I've cut all the growing tips off the melons and pulled off anything smaller than one inch. I'm not sure if the smallest ones will ripen, but we'll find out. 

More Fall Starts

It seemed like I could get one more row of carrots in, so I sowed more 'Yaya's. I also started a pot of 'Bright Lights' chard and a small pack of 'Yuushou' Pak Choi. I'm not sure where they'll go, but I'll find a spot.

I made a second batch of strawberry jam. The first one was very thick. This one is definitely thinner. Maybe it'll be syrup.

Late June Garden Status

After a rather cool spring, things are finally warming up. There are small green tomatoes on all the plants. No peppers or aubergines yet. After the snap peas fell over in a strong wind, I removed them yesterday. There were lots that were huge and fat, so I shelled them and froze them. Next year I think I'll try short ones. And now the cucumbers will be happy because they've been living in the shadow of the peas.

The potatoes are blooming. We've had some strawberries, but now they're taking a break. We've been picking blueberries for about two weeks, but most of them are still coming. I guess they liked the fertilizer I gave them, because they're huge. Even the new one that I just planted this spring to replace the Chandler has a nice crop. After we found a couple of stink bugs on the raspberries, I've pulled them all out. We haven't seen any since. In their place I planted some melons. They should like the heat against the house.

Both pear trees have a modest crop. The peaches are a washout again. Maybe it's time to give up on it.

The broccoli and cauliflower were a disappointment, but the cabbage is nice. I've cut one head and will cut another soon for sauerkraut. I will try them all again in the fall.

I've been doing a lot of interplanting. I've planted lots of dry beans among the roses and tomatoes, and lettuce as well. I've also just sowed some bok choi in shady spots to see if they'll work in the summer.

I pulled most of the chard, since I was spending a lot of time patrolling them for leaf miners. I have one of each color, much more manageable.

Strawberries!

Today I picked our first Seascape strawberries. They sure are good. Tomorrow we'll have some on our oatmeal.Our first raspberry looked ripe yesterday and today it has disappeared. A bird perhaps? Let's hope they leave some for us. The blueberries are showing some color, so it won't be long before we'll be picking them. I've put netting on both the blueberries and strawberries.

In the last few days I've planted lots of dry beans - cranberry, cannellini and navy beans. I've pulled up the last of the bok choi, as it was bolting. The broccoli was disappointing. I think it didn't like the recent heat. But the cauliflower and cabbage are still looking good. We've started picking snap peas.

The tomatoes all have flower buds except the San Marzanos. And both the zucchini and delicata squash have female flower buds.

Most of the pears on the trees have fallen off, but there are still a few on each one. The mandarin is just finishing blooming. If a tenth of the flowers produce fruit, we'll be inundated.

Uncertain Times

With the unfolding of the coronavirus pandemic, I've decided to plant more vegetables. I went to Wilco today and bought starts of chard, onions, kale, bok choi, cauliflower, broccoli, and cabbage. I've planted the chard, bok choi and kale in the bed at the side of the house, in front of the dahlias. The onions went into the center of the onion bed. The brassicas will go into their own bed with an insect barrier over it.

On the positive side, the peach tree is blooming (I'm hand pollinating just in case the bees don't find it) and the pear trees are close. The early blueberries are starting to bloom. I've started more lettuce, bok choi, and kale, including Ethiopian kale. I also sowed a row of carrots. All my earlier starts are doing well under a fluorescent light, except the aubergines, which are not up yet. I think the heat mat was too much for them. I've put some insulation between the six pack and the mat, so it isn't quite so warm. We'll see.

We've had several days of sun and 60s temperatures. Tomorrow it cools off and we have a week of rain coming. I'm happy to have a rest, and the new plants will appreciate the rain.

Starting seeds

Today I started a bunch of things for the garden: Tomatoes, peppers, aubergines, and chard.

The green onions and leeks that have been out in the greenhouse are doing well. They'll be ready to set out in the garden soon.

I also sowed pak choi and spinach in the garden.

Feels Like Spring

I know it isn't close to being Spring, but the last week or so has given us a taste of things to come. We had several days of highs close to 60 and sunny. We even had lunch on the deck a few days ago.

Update on overwintered vegetables:
My fall plantings of lettuce and spinach are still there, and we've eaten many meals of them. However, we've had a fairly mild winter, so I won't expect that to happen every year. I still have some carrots left, mostly big split ones, but they're still good. The bok choi was good for a while, but it has now bolted. I left the plant to flower, hoping to entice some early bees. And we have seen one.

After some major pruning, the pear and peach trees seem to be fine and are close to blooming. With them being short now, I'm hoping to be able to hand pollenate them.


I started green onions and leeks indoors, and now they are in my greenhouse. Three days ago I sowed snap peas, but they aren't up yet.

Winter Garden

With our recent decision to sell our cottage in Tucson and stay home this winter, I've decided to try to plant some winter vegetables. It's a bit late, but I thought I'd try anyway, just in case we have a delayed winter.

I sowed mesclun mix lettuce, Red Kitten and Matador spinach, mache, and more bok choi and kohlrabi.

Starting Fall Cleanup

The weather has turned very fall-like with no prospects for any more warm weather. Today may be our last day in the 70s. So I pulled out the tomatoes, after picking any that were close to being ripe. I also pulled the aubergine, the cucumbers, and the peppers except for the Mad Hatter. The Mad Hatter peppers are still green, so I'm going to give them a little longer in the ground before I pull the plant up and hang it upside down in the garage. I'd really like to get some to turn red.

Last week I pulled up the melons and dug up the rhubarb. We just don't use enough of it to justify the space it takes. We've also pulled out all the strawberry plants. I'll start new ones next year in a different bed.

I've left the zucchini for now, as it still has some squash coming. But without much heat they may not make it. The plant really looks ugly, covered with mildew.

I still have snap peas, lettuce, and bok choi, which has been a great success.

August Status Report

The blueberries are finished (much earlier than usual) and the strawberries have started producing again. We've been getting a few raspberries from the new plants. We had a few nice pears from the Ubileen and lots of small ones from the Orcas.

The tomatoes and peppers are still not looking great, except for the Cherokee Purple, which is finally ripening lots of tomatoes. I've picked one aubergine so far, with a few more coming.

The cucumbers are producing nicely, as is the zucchini. I pruned lots of leaves out of the zucchini, and so far there hasn't been any mildew. I also thinned out the melon leaves and cut off the growing tips. They had started to develop some mildew.

I've taken out the first row of bush beans. The second planting are ready to pick. I've sowed more lettuce, as well as kohlrabi, bok choi, and something called golden celery, with seeds from Grow Journey.

The big project now is removing most of the roses, one side of the lilies, and most of the herbs and lavender from the rose bed. I've decided I want more vegetable space and not so many flowers. Next year I'll plant a few new herbs and use the current herb bed for something else.