Dear Carol, Mary Ann and all of our gardening friends around the globe,
I wish I could write and say I’d planted the fall vegetable garden, but yesterday, ragweed pollen put me down for the count. I didn’t get anything pulled up or planted. However, here is what I plan to have in this week. Lettuce, spinach, tatsoi, bok choy, onions, garlic, blue kale and swiss chard, among others. I’ll set out my seeds and put together the configuration. In the meantime, I must pull up several plants which are finished.
Most of the garden performed exceptionally well this year. Here is a picture of it in spring, and you can see the difference in growth between it and the plants on the left. The sweet potato vines, which were a gift from my friend, Katie, have grown to take over the path, but I think they lend a beautiful and almost Gothic air to the space. You can see them tumbling over the wall on the left side of the red fountain. They help soften all of that red brick.
One exception in the vegetable category was the variety of okra I grew. Eagle Pass is beautiful, but the pods are tough and inedible for the most part. I’ll be switching back to Clemson Spineless next year I think. Also, the squashes, Sweet Dumpling, Tatume and Clarinette Lebanese, were decimated by squash bugs. Next year, I’ll try to find varieties which are more squash bug resistant if possible. Or, perhaps, I’ll travel less, and then I will be able to keep up with squash bug annihilation.
I’m still waiting on the itty bitty Tigger melons, and quite frankly, I think my seed wasn’t correct. Mine look nothing like the photo in the catalog. Oh well, they may still surprise me. Watermelons are starting to finally put on fruit. I grew them too late I think because the heat stopped blossom production. I should have planted them earlier. However, the pumpkins being grown in the lower garden away from the squash and squash bugs are doing great. I hope to have a pumpkin for Bear by Halloween.
Although I wasn’t thrilled with the heirloom melons and okra, I dearly love the Japanese long cucumbers I grew. They are long and prickly, but have the mildest taste and are extremely prolific. I made Thai cucumber salad, refrigerator pickles and ate them straight. They are delicious and a definite repeat.
As you know, the eggplants were a huge hit. Ghost was a white variety, and it wasn’t as prolific as some of the Thai cultivars. In fact, it only produced one crop when the heat came, and blossom set went. As for tomatoes, I’ll do a wrap-up on them next week when we complete our letters for the season. The peppers were delicious and prolific. I’ve used them in everything including the red beans and rice for dinner this evening.
If you haven’t ordered your bulbs yet, now is the time. Why not put a few daffodils, jonquils and some of the small tulips in your garden for spring. When those little leaves peek out of the soil, you will feel such joy after winter. I promise.
If you missed my Lowe’s summer wrap-up post, please go visit and leave me a comment. I love them and read them all just like I do here.
I hope everyone had a wonderful garden this year. Now, I’m working on that fall feeling and looking forward to row covers and tender lettuce again. How about you? Will you plant a fall vegetable garden this year?
Your potager is beautiful Dee! Kudos for experimenting with new varieties, even though not all turned out quite as well as hoped.
Our beds are packed with stuff that’s still productive, but I’ll still squeeze in some fresh fall lettuce seedlings. We need more lettuce to go with all the other lovely salad stuff that’s going nuts!
The photos belie your words, dear Dee! They show abundance and beauty. The okra is a wonderfully attractive plant, whether edible or not and those peppers! I was wondering how you could plant lettuce now with the dry weather. Irrigation must be rigged up in the veggie patch here if we plan on eating anything from it! 🙂
Sorry the ragweed got you down, Dee. That means the Executive Producer will be sneezing soon down here in Texas.
Yes, time to order bulbs. I ordered a bunch last week. I won’t say I had as much success with my garden as you did or that I’ll get around to sowing seeds this week for lettuce, spinach, etc, but I will say I’ve enjoyed following along with you and your garden all summer long.
I love your fountain more each time I see it. And I love the look of the sweet potato vines!
Dee, I love before and after pictures, don’t you? As I’m sure I said before, I really admire your raised beds. Thanks for the reminder to order fall bulbs. I had better get to it. Pam x
Melanie, it all sounds lovely. Enjoy the fruits of your labors. 🙂 And, thanks for stopping by.
Your okra plant WAS beautiful–too bad it wasn’t too edible! I have never planted a fall garden, but excited about the few beets that I harvested last spring (another first), I got ambitious and planted some–they have germinated well, and we are hoping to pickle some by the end of the season. I also started tomatos and peppers that will go out to the greenhouse in a month or so–they were big enough to transplant yesterday–bring on the fall!!