Harvest Monday: August 31, 2015

Sweet potatoes! I have sweet potatoes! Almost 7 pounds of them were dug up so far. I don't think that there will be many more, but I will root around in the bed this week before my husband starts preparing the bed for planting.

Lots of the sweet potatoes are fingerling sized, but a few are fairly decent, if somewhat oddly shaped. One in this picture sort of resembles a derriere according to my sister and my husband. They used different vocabulary to describe it, but...HA get it...butt...you get the point. ;) Can you tell I hang around middle school children all day?

The variety is "Beauregard". I will probably try a different variety next year to see if I can get some better results. Now I have to let these cure for awhile to develop their sweetness.

Probably you thought I had run out of beans since I have posted about them for the last several blog posts running. Well, not quite yet! We have had an enormous amount of rain lately, which the yard-long beans seem to truly love. There was a pound of them from this week's picking (including a couple of straggling bush beans).

To see what others are harvesting visit Daphne's Dandelions.

Miscellany

I haven't been posting much lately because I haven't felt like anything noteworthy has been going on in my garden. I don't really give my garden very much credit though. I'm not harvesting a variety of veggies right now, but I do harvest something almost daily, even if it is only a few green beans.

I've got Roma tomato plants starting to set fruit. I have never tried growing this variety before, but I am hopeful for a nice harvest. *fingers crossed*

I have three Beefsteak tomato plants. One is significantly larger than the others though they were planted at the same time. The large one is flowering, but no sign of fruit yet.

Overall the tomato plants look healthy with no sign of disease and no insects on them. 

My cucumber vines from my second planting are looking kind of ratty. They are starting to vine out a bit and are flowering, but several of the leaves in the center have insect damage. I will be grateful for one decent cucumber. Just one...is that too much to ask? *sigh*

My first planting of yard-long beans is pretty much done, I think. It got toppled over in a severe thunderstorm we had recently with 90 mile an hour wind gusts. No, the 90 was not a typo. It was crazy!

My second tepee of yard-long beans is producing more than my first planting did, but it too got knocked around by the wind.

There are three cherry tomato plants that are beginning to flower, but no sign of fruit yet.

I have three tiny bok choy growing. I really can't believe they even sprouted in this heat.

My sugar pumpkin plant is also a bit worse for the wear. It has some insect damage like the cucumber plants. I don't know what is getting them though. A week before this picture was taken they were all lush and healthy looking.

I spotted a flower in the sweet potato bed. I didn't know they put off pretty little purple flowers. They remind me of morning glories. I believe sweet potatoes are related to them if my memory serves.

The patch from the weird rust fungus on my strawberries is starting to grow in with new plants. I haven't seen any more of the rust, but the plants are looking stressed. I'm not sure if it is from the heat, or if this is normal for them.

I have one tiny cabbage growing. I planted a savoy type and a traditional head type and I don't know which one this is yet. I suspect the head type.

I also planted two types of broccoli. This is the only plant growing so far. I planted brassica seeds in the beginning of August, and plan to plant some more in the beginning of September, and again in the beginning of October. I'm trying to see which set does the best for my area. This will be my first fall garden, so lots of learning to do this year!

Harvest Monday: August 24, 2015

The week started off with a few beans being picked. 

I  also picked a few small radishes, though they were really peppery. I think I will wait for cooler weather before planting another row.

Then it rained A LOT, and suddenly, I was in the beans! I picked more at one time this week than I have all summer.

I actually had a small surplus of beans and canned three quarts and a pint. Yay!

Harvest Monday: August 17, 2015

I'm harvesting bush beans and yard-long beans this week. The bush beans are still trickling in, though some of the bushes are starting to die back. The second planting of yard-long beans are the ones that produced these lengthy beauties. This is my first time growing them, so I'm not entirely sure if the first planting will continue to produce, or if they are about done for the season. We had some last night for dinner and they were sweet and delicious.

The cubanelle plant is as productive as it has been all season. I also got one small bell pepper too.

The sugar pumpkin plants are doing nicely. I'm nervous about them contracting a virus like the last ones did, but so far, so good. I really, really would like some little pumpkins to cook with.

I have a little, tiny row of two different kinds of radishes that are growing nicely. With the heat that we have down here in Georgia I'm not sure how they will taste this time of year, hence the small planting. 

If you'd like to share your harvest this week and see what others are harvesting, visit Daphne's Dandelions.

Harvest Monday: August 10, 2015

My harvest this week was very small, but small is better than nothing. I have picked enough green beans that my husband and I can have them for a side dish with supper one night this week. I mixed the yard-long beans with the bush beans as there is not enough of either kind to warrant keeping them separate.

I picked four small bell peppers. I'm surprised I get any peppers at all considering how hot it gets here in South Georgia. It's nearly 100 degrees every day. Every. Blessed. Day. At least we are getting rain regularly though. I know many of y'all aren't.

One of the peppers was really interesting looking. I don't even know what to say about that except, hmmm. My husband has been asking for stuffed peppers all summer, but they are pretty small. I am thinking of putting these in an Italian sausage dish with peppers and onions instead.

Three small cubanelle peppers finished out the week's harvest. To see what others are harvesting check out Daphne's Dandelions.

Garden Pests

It all started when I pulled up in my driveway after work. I noticed that my beautiful cherry tomato plant had been gnawed down to nubs! I just knew the deer had got to them Grrrr...

Then I went in to the garden to pick beans awhile later and I noticed some weird black spots on the yard long beans.

I took some close up pictures to see if I could tell what they were.

I'm not sure, but based on what I've read on some other blogs, I think these may be black fly. 

I sprayed them down with soapy water because I read some blogs that said they sprayed their plants down with them. I don't really know if it will help or not, but I figured I would give it a try.

I have no idea what the ants were doing. They were around all of the places that there were those tiny black spots.

As I was mulling over the issues with the beans while I watered the garden I jumped back startled when I saw these giant monsters! 

I've never had hornworm caterpillars on my own tomato plants before, but I had seen them on my sister-in-law's plants. They were the size of my middle finger. I pulled six of them off and dropped them into a buck of soapy water. YUK! EW! 

Well, it wasn't the deer that ate my tomato plant after all.

Rust?! on my strawberries

 I missed going in to my garden yesterday as I am a teacher and had back-to-school duties yesterday up through the evening with Open House night. So, tonight after I got home at around 6:30 p.m. I raced out to the garden to see what needed picking and how everything was doing. I noticed that my small patch of strawberries had what appeared to be rust on them in about 1/4 of the bed!

I squealed with alarm, and without thinking, immediately started yanking the affected plants out of the pot. Therefore, I did not get a picture of the damage as a whole. 

It is hard to tell in the pictures, but there definitely seemed to be a powdery, rusty looking colored fungus that was three-dimensional sticking to the plants.

I should have worn gloves, but in my haste to save my strawberries I didn't think to put them on. Then, afterward I scrubbed with soap and hot water. I hope it doesn't give me any sort of allergic reaction.

Here is a photo of the pot where the plants are with the damaged ones already removed.

Harvest Monday August 3, 2015

Harvests this week consisted of mainly beans. I went away for the weekend having picked beans before I left, and came back to a nice big handful of the yard long beans! 

My granddaughters wanted to eat them then and there, but I managed to talk them into letting me add them to our dinner.

The girls (6 years and 2 1/2 years old) chose red beans and rice to make, and helped add their chosen ingredients. It was quite good! The beans were sauteed in a little olive oil with garlic, salt, and pepper.

I'm linking up with others on Harvest Monday over at Daphne's Dandelions.