Garden Update- Sept 1st

September first and the garden is still producing well.  The garden itself is not looking that great, Downy mildew spread all through my cucurbits. Mexican bean beetles devoured my bean plants, and almost all my tomatoes were pulled do to blight, but somehow the garden is still hanging on. i'm finally beginning to get some cucumbers. i planted a couple different varieties, the white ones are supposed to be lemon cucs, but all of the ones that grew in that garden are white.  i grew some in a different garden and they have all been yellow, so i'm not sure what's up with that.After looking around online for an answer i was begining to wonder if i had accidentally planted dragon eggs, instead of lemon cucumbers.

i have lots of volunteer sunflowers coming up all over the yard and garden. Most of these were planted by the birds.  i have a couple that were planted from last years sunflowers, but the ones i actually planted, the red variety, never came up.

My peppers are finally beginning to change color.i planted red, yellow and green this year.  

My October beans were just beginning to get streaks, but i picked them all because the bean beetles had stripped all the foliage off the plants.  Since i had to pick them a bit early, i shelled them and froze them instead of allowing them to dry in the pods. They'll be a nice addition to soups this winter. 

i plant squash every three weeks during the summer, so as plants are  dying back new pants are just beginning to produce. Most of my squash is done and have been pulled, but i have new zucchini and pattypan plants just starting to produce.  My zucchini has been extremely productive this year, even with the challenges of vine borers, squash bugs, mosaic virus, downy mildew and powdery mildew. Somehow, i am still picking zucchinis. 

Sweet potatoes are beginning to bloom. They are in the morning glory family, and so the flowers are so the flowers look very similar to morning glories. i have grown sweet potatoes every year without ever having a problem. This year, when i went to check my potatoes i found holes in the soil and the base of many of he plants. Something, a vole or possibly chipmunk had dug under the ground and eaten the sweet potatoes. i dug a few plants early, but the potatoes are quite small since they typically are not dug until right before the first frost.  i couldn't bring myself to dig them all, so i left some in the ground and have been checking them daily hoping that they don't get eaten.

As the summer garden begins to die back, my fall garden is starting to come in. i have newly planted lettuce, swiss chard, beets, broccoli, radishes,kale and snow peas.

This is the first year in a long time that i didn't do any canning. i was able freeze beans, a few bags of tomatoes, and lots of squash. i still have some potatoes in storage and hope to have sweet potatoes as well. It feels a bit strange though entering the winter without my usual stores of food.

The new house will be done before the winter, and i'll actually have a pantry and a cold storage area for the first time, but nothing to put it in it. :)  i suppose i should start planning for next years garden. :)