Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Whew! That was close!

By the grace of God, or Mother Nature, the predicted frost for last night didn't materialise . . . which was really good, since I hadn't found anything to cover up all my plants with!

Yes, I still have bean plants with no beans on them - flowers, yes, but no beans as yet - I have pea plants with only the tiniest, flat pea pods on them, and the weatherman was predicting frost. In August. This has been a truly terrible summer, horticulturally speaking. Snow in June, rain throughout July, and then frost before the end of August. Man, I hope next year is better!

On the positive side . . . I pulled up 2 potato plants the other day, and the spuds are awesome! So delicious. I also pulled half a row of carrots, most of which I'm going to freeze for the winter, but I have some of them in the fridge, scrubbed, leaves removed and ready for peeling. Yummy. Oh yeah, these are the Nantes Scarlet Core carrots. I haven't picked any of the Imperators yet.

The Diva cucumber I had growing in the greenhouse is done, in spite of watering etc., its leaves are turning pale green and there's no more cukes on it, so I'll have to remove it in short order. The other cukes are still growing well, regardless of the lower nighttime temperatures.

But the peppers have still not been harvested. They're not very big, I'm not sure if they're ready . . . and now, they're infested with Aphids. Just the peppers, both green and red. And one broccoli plant, but the broccoli is about done now too, I think.

All in all, I think it's been a fairly successful summer in the garden, in spite of the crappy weather. Clearly, there are some things that I need to change for next year - but that's okay. It's a learning experience, and I learned what not to do in the greenhouse! Number one - bigger pots for the tomatoes right from the beginning; and two - set up the irrigation system as soon as the plants are in their bigger pots. Watering them automatically, twice a day seems to work far better than at high noon. More fertilizer would be good too.

Next year, I will have a bigger garden - my husband is going to build a proper fence (no more corral panels) for me, enclosing the greenhouse in the garden, and giving me a fresh new large spot for planting. It should be fabulous! I'm already plotting what veges to plant!

No comments: