nearly there

It seems the weather has turned now, the days are getting shorter and the production of summer vegetables is slowing down - except the beans. I collared some other gardeners today to pass along the joy. Also a local commented on the non-harvest of the beans growing on the outside of the fence and I told him to help himself which he did with great gusto, stuffing beans into his trouser pockets. I also gave him some tomatoes, just to round off the gifts that keep on giving. I'm actually very happy that finally some people from the surrounding community get some of the produce and the guy mentioned he may put in for a garden next year. I hope so.

The nasturtiums seem to have enjoyed the slightly cooler weather and the winter squash are finally flowering. Not sure what kind of harvest to expect since it's all so late in the year. Still, there may be some lovely mini-squash to enjoy alongside my three ears of corn.

Even though it's starting to look a little bit wilty, there is still some weeks of life left in it, it all depends on the first frost. I wished it would rain, I am getting a bit tired of watering all the time. Still, my harvest was amazing and probably will last at least until my next return or even longer.

peppahs

Hopefully the peppers are turning red quite soon ("Banana" and "Nardello's"). It's really hot for September so here's hoping. One of them has the beginnings of it but nothing substantial across the board. Not sure it was worth it, especially as we seem to eat a lot of peppers.

And now as promised the most recent picture of the garden. The squashes are turning mildewy which signals, to me, the very ear end of the main growing season. Still, plenty of things to harvest and water.

grandchildren of the corn

Harvesting is continuing apace. Dug up some potatoes which I think are "Rose Finn Apple". I haven't had a chance to prepare them yet but I very much look forward to more home-grown spuds. Definitely something I will repeat next year.

Yes, the corn is flowering and I spotted at least one cob. So there! Ankle-high by Fourth of July does get you something on top of mockery. I just wonder how I should cook this little treasure - or maybe I should just dry it and place it in a commemorative spot to honour its memory and remember not to repeat this farce of gardening. Do I sound too scathing? I like the process of growing it but the return is a bit disappointing so far...

More tomatoes are ripening - "Striped German", "Momotaro" and what I suspect to be another variety of black tomato.

Had delicious stuffed vegetables on Sunday, followed by tomato soup on Monday, zucchini and patty pan squash "quiche" (without the crust) on Tuesday and today it was green beans with tomato sauce on tortellini. Tomorrow I may take a break from vegetables, especially as I managed to palm off - sorry, share - some of them with a friend. Still have the fridge full and with the recent warm weather there is no sign of slowing down yet.

The winter squashes are putting on lots of leaves and even some beginnings of flowers (I definitely planted them too late...), there is another aubergine growing fast (yay for warm summers) but the peppers are still deciding whether they want to ripen. As I was taking pictures my batteries ran out so - again - no picture of the entire garden. Next time, I promise.

tomatoes and other harvests

Let's take a closer look at my tomatoes: Costoluto Genovese provides amusing shapes, it's like clouds or a Rorschach - but get your mind out of the sewer. The other picture shows the variety I am having at the moment - two kinds of cherry tomatoes ("Velvet Red" and "Yellow Nugget"), "black" tomatoes ("Black Prince") and plain old round ones ("Early Girl"?). I am still waiting for my humongous German Striped (gold with pink marbelling) and some other unidentified tomatoes ("Momotaro"?) which are at the moment a hot pink. Remind me to label my tomatoes better in the future...

As previously mentioned, I planted two different kinds of beans amongst each other (that pesky labelling again...). Now that I can see the pods, one is rounder, the other one flatter. I suspect that the round ones are "Kentucky Wonder", the other ones are some "Tuscan" pole beans that I got from a gardening stall at the Earth Day celebrations. I can't really be asked to separate them when cooking so I cannot comment on their respective tastiness.

I love harvesting patty pan squash "Flying Saucer", although there never seem enough (is something or someone getting to them before I do?!?). Almost too pretty to eat.

No picture of the garden today, mainly because there is not much new (unless you count flowering corn...).

...and back to normal Portland weather

After a few very hot days, the damp and cold has settled back in. Not that I am complaining - I don't have to water as much and things still ripen.

A quick harvest on Friday gave me the first beans and more zucchini, cucumbers and greens. In my planting I mixed "Kentucky Wonder" and some Tuscan pole bean variety together, and I can't tell which is which. Not that it matters that much but I will not make that mistake again. The tomatoes are cracking because of the rain and need to be used more quickly once collected. Still, they are delicious. "Black Prince" is not quite as dark as I expected. I noticed just recently that "Velvet Red" has not only furry leaves but also furry fruit.

Having exploited the break in the rainy weather to go camping over the weekend, the garden needed to look after its own for three days. Which meant even more beans, zucchini, tomatoes and cucumbers for harvesting.

Luckily, 100% of humans and guinea pigs in households polled prefer cucumber over zucchini. I am very pleased with my trellis method, which saves on space and makes the cucumbers grow straighter. Plenty more to go before the summer is out.

The corn is finally starting to flower. At this rate, I will have yummy roasted corn by the time of the first frosts. Good things come to those who wait. I have never grown corn before and it's definitely worth an experiment.

The garden is looking very lush at the moment, helped by all that rain. One drawback is that the moist soil also encourages slugs, which strangely love the "Costoluto Genovese" tomatoes (haven't spotted them on any of the other tomatoes or other vegetables).

PS. Potatoes harvested last week were very nice and stayed a purple colour even after cooking!

Portland sauna

Yet again it is too hot. Too hot for humans and too hot for plants. Everyone and everything wishes for AC. I think I even heard snippy mutterings from the rainbow chard today.

I also decided in my wisdom that today was the day that I would harvest the seeds of the arugula aka rocket. As a consequence I also had to sort out the strawberry plants and their runners that sharing the same area (long story but as reported earlier they were actually growing outside my plot boundary). 100 degree weather is not really ideal for this endeavour. I also dug up my first harvest of potatoes (Dark Red Norland, enough for a small meal, slightly disappointing amount). Nevertheless, I got it done, even though sweat was pouring off me.

Finally the first pepper harvest and others on the way. I've now had quite a few tomatoes but still waiting on more to come. The Velvet Red is a small cherry tomato which I wouldn't grow again - not enough output to make it worth it, although the foliage is pretty. The Momotaro is good and uniform with quite a good taste. The Costoluto Genovese is hanging full and is delicious but sometimes has the tendency to rot at the top of the stem. I am still waiting for Black Prince (which is starting to ripen) and the Striped German.

Lots of different flowers again - a sunflower has opened up, the aubergine aka eggplant is prettier than I ever thought and the flowers on the cucumbers and beans ensure lots of produce to come.

It's in times like this that you notice that the garden sucks up most of your life. Watering and harvesting every day is time-consuming. But then you take what you have laboured for home, cook it, serve it to friends and everything is alright.

mixed bag

A few personal upheavals going on over the last couple of weeks. First someone I knew died unexpectedly. Her family and friends decided to give away some of her personal belongings - she was a keen gardener and through her plants, birdfeeders and tools she will live on. I chose a hoe, the handle all smooth and worked. It has a very good feel to it. I left it in the common tool shed with a note to think of Anna whenever people use it.

Then I had Lasik. Since I was laid up on the day of the surgery I sent Toxicfingers to water. She said that a zucchini would be ready soon. Unfortunately, I couldn't get out there for a coupe of days (it rained overnight so it seemed ok), only to find an enormous marrow!

The nightshades are doing really well: Along with lots of peppers, the first red tomato ("Early Girl" I think, unless I am mixing it up with "Momotaro") has appeared and the aubergine "Ichiban" has two long, thin fruits.

Lots of success with the squashes and cucumbers too. Patty pan squash "Flying Saucer" is true to its name, very stunning. At the moment I am harvesting three kinds of cucumbers: "Lemon", "Orient Express" and "nameless" (I forgot to write down what it was that I picked up randomly at a nursery but it appears to be a smaller, pickling sort).

Much more to do over the coming weeks. I noticed a that the beans are flowering so picking them cannot be far off - and I have about 20 feet of beans. The arugula needs cutting down so the seeds can be collected. I also saw that part of my potatoes are uncovered, probably the earth washed away from watering, so I will have to heap some more soil up around them.

Even - or especially - in difficult times the garden cheers me up.