Fall Garden in full swing

This is the first year that I have ever had a fall garden. I don't know why I have never tried one before, as I live in the deep South, and we have a growing season pretty much year round. 

I planted a mixture of lettuces, mostly to cut and come again. I have one or two that look to be heading up, so that will be a nice change. In the right bed I also have collards and mustard greens visible. I recently planted some kohlrabi seeds, garlic cloves, and New Zealand spinach behind the lettuces. I have a small patch of bunching onions, and a few parsnips as well.

My first cutting of lettuces netted a full gallon sized bag when they were all cleaned up.

In the middle bed I have the brassicas. Bok Choy is just loving my garden. I have several heads of it growing vigorously. I also have some baby cabbage, savoy cabbage, and broccoli plants growing. I keep this bed covered to keep the white moths out. I have smashed some of their eggs laid on the white covering.

I have two different kinds of carrots growing, a yellow and orange variety. I have never been successful growing carrots, but I usually try in the spring, which around here gets really hot really fast.

Here are some of the bok choy that I cut leaves off  to see if they would grow back...they did! In the back ground is a purple (I think) sprouting broccoli plant. I staked it right after this picture. It's a good thing too, because we had some heavy wind and rains for a few days.

Here is a smaller broccoli plant that was staked, and some other random brassicas that are still babies. They look much the same when they are small. Sometimes I can't tell what they are until they get a bit of growth on them.

My gardening wish came true this year!! I've been waiting patiently all year for November to get here so that I could plant asparagus crowns. I ordered 25 two year old Mary Washington crowns...they sent probably 30. Most looked to be in good shape, but a couple were dried out. I planted them all in the hopes that I can have fresh asparagus from my own garden.

To my delight, one week after planting the crowns a third had sprouted up little shoots! After last count yesterday, 18 of the 28 holes had asparagus sprouted up out of them. I've been gradually pulling in a little dirt into the holes as they grow.

I missed harvest Monday this week, but did get some mustard greens and collard greens picked. I cleaned, blanched and froze 2 bags of the mustards and 1 bag of the collards.

The weather is so much nicer to garden in the fall here! It may be my favorite time of the year.

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.