Garden Update

Been a while since I last posted here. There has been mostly eating, though the summer returns have been a bit sporadic. The early excessive heat and the inconsistent rain has had it's effect on production. The summer squash finally ran it's course and I was pretty much ready. I was a bit tired of it. I expect that I will not plant so much of it next spring. We are into Fall and Winter planting right now and I have added two new beds. Lowes had self-contained kits on sale made of cedar, so I thought I would give them a try. I have planted buckwheat in one for the bees to forage during the slow season.

They have been a bit slow in finding it, but have been more interested lately.  Kitty pulled the feeders from the hives about a week ago.  We are watching to see how they do now that Goldenrod is plentiful and they have Buckwheat just outside their front doors.  This morning I planted more Buckwheat in the mulch between five of the Hazelnut bushes just to see if it will sprout there.  If so, I will plant more.  It grows quickly and lasts until the first frost and is supposed to be a great green compost.

Moving on to the new stuff.  Last month I planted Butternut and Spaghetti squash in the other new bed.  It is about to take over the yard.  There is already fruit and many blossoms.  I tend to prefer the winter squash varieties over the summer.

 

In the bed beside the Buckwheat, I have planted carrots, beets and turnips.  In the bed beside the squash, I have planted cabbage, cauliflower and broccoli.  In the other upper bed I have planted three varieties of kale.  That bed still has thriving chard and a leftover okra plant that is still producing.

 

In the last lower bed I have planted lettuce, arugula and spinach.  Yesterday I planted peas in the cinder block holes along one whole side of that bed.  The rest of the okra plants doing fine and I expect them to keep producing for a few more weeks.  I have also planted Parsnips in the half of the cinder block holes in that bed.

We had mixed results with tomatoes.  The corner bed away from the raised beds produced wonderful German Johnsons and some very tasty Cherokee Purples, but the plants in the beds seemed to wilt in the early heat.  We are still enjoying tomatoes and have been able to share with family and friends.

I planted Buckwheat in some of the other beds.  The one below is where the cabbage, cauliflower and broccoli have been planted.  You can see the greyish leaves of the returning brussel sprouts plants that I just cut back in the middle of the summer.  I am a bit concerned that the Buckwheat will impair the sprouting of the new stuff.

Anyway, that's pretty much it for now.