It's the final day of August, a day which happens to be cool, wet and dark, as if summer disappeared literally overnight. It didn't - warmth and sunshine will be back in a couple of days - but it feels that way. It would be a good reminder, if I hadn't started thinking along these lines a week ago, that wrap-up time is approaching for much of the annual vegetable garden. Don't want to leave it all to be done on a couple of blustery October weekends.
The pea vines are mostly brown, yet they still carry living green branches that bear pods and peas. They aren't as sweet and tender and perfectly shaped as they were in July, but quite edible. The same goes for beans, especially the rattlesnake pole beans. After two or three good weeks they seem to go from immature to overdone without passing through an appropriate stage for picking. So we put up with beans that are a little bulgier than we prefer. I picked off a couple of shriveled pods from these sad Schweiserreisen plants. If the seeds germinate, I can pick the rest and put this mess to rest.
Summer squash - zucchini and papaya pear - continue to bear perfect fruit even as their leaves are going yellow (and being perforated by slugs). It's time to tie a "do not pick" ribbon around a few specimens to ensure we have some seeds for next year. We grow less enthusiastic about giving away our surplus. The stem on at least one winter squash has changed colour, which probably indicates that it's done. I could put it away and get the vine chopped up now rather than later.
Onion tops fell over long ago, but as long as they are green I keep hoping the bulbs will continue to grow. Our onions never get as big as the set package promises. Leaving them in the ground doesn't seem to hurt them, provided they aren't been set upon by pests. We have found edible-looking onion bulbs while turning over the garden in the spring. Garlic tops, conversely, are standing erect and are totally devoid of green. The whole bed will be dug up when ground dries up a bit. Some will be replanted, but in a different location.
Great seed-bearing versions of otherwise short plants have arisen and been felled. Garden cress, pak choy, parsnip and lettuce seeds were collected last weekend. Radishes are still in the works, if they survive the late summer onslaught of flea beetles. Some of the Simpson lettuce seeds have been sown with hope that there is still time to grow leaves of a useful size.
Tomatoes are finally ripening - Tigerella, quickly followed by Tribe's Tobique, with San Marzano just starting and Longkeeper stubbornly staying green. It's no wonder it keeps the longest if it's the last to ripen. Not a hint of blossom end rot this year. Is it the frequent watering, the straw mulch, the compost tea, the varieties? Controlled experiments take too long. We just have to keep doing all of the above.
Potato plants are a bit yellow, a bit holey (slugs again) and very much in the way, having overgrown all pathways adjacent to their bed. Barry dug up one end of the bed on Sunday, so we can more easily get from one side of the large garden to the other and we now have a large bag of potatoes for eating in the near future. The tubers seem to keep better in the ground than in the basement, so we'll hold off further excavation for a while yet. Besides, they might still be growing.
Carrots still have lush green tops and if we're really lucky, chunky little 3-inch roots. The entire harvest is apt to fit in a bread bag. We have eaten a few and found they have genuine carrot flavour. If only they would be a bit more tender (and longer!). They can be harvested and stored in the fridge as soon as the zucchini and beans clear out of there. Or, they can stay in the ground until I lose my patience with them for growing so slowly. (I like the idea of the Slow Food movement, but can't claim to be a disciple.) Carrots sown under the rattlesnake beans have no doubt died of darkness; those among the white beans live, even if their roots are not substantial. Since they are near the edge of the garden, they are probably the best candidates to be next year's seed carrots.
The largest of the beets have been picked, a few of them pickled. It would be nice if the little ones left behind take advantage of the space they have to grow now. Not entirely counting on it, but it would be nice. So many of the tops have been ravaged by leaf miners, I no longer even bother trying to save the good leaves for eating. Swiss chard is marginally better in that respect; otherwise I would pull it all now. Hoping that leaf miners die in the fall while beets and Swiss chard keep going. Full of wishful thinking.
(Almost) everything else, in brief:
Pears are few and small, but acceptable quality
Raspberries are picking up speed
Red bee balm looks tired but could still attract a hummingbird this week
Grapes are hanging on and ripening, despite massive defoliation by leaf hoppers
Peppers, both sweet and hot, are growing green and shiny
Watermelons haven't grown in weeks (the softball-sized one we ate was very nice, though)
Two parsnip plantings are thriving, two not so good
The dominant hue of the red clover flowers is now brown
Basil has been regrowing nicely following severe cutbacks
We have some ugly little cauliflowers. I might have to double-dog-dare Barry to eat one.
Summer has three weeks to go, officially. However, September 1 is like New Year's Day for me. Back to running, back to Toastmasters and clogging, on to music lessons and longer hours at the office. Gardening season has to wind down, regardless of the weather.
