End of one Month – Beginning of another

Aug-31
We picked our first hearty load of tomatoes yesterday.
We’ve had more peppers recently, and there are a number of small ones on the bushes.

 

Last week, I chopped the basil plants down to around 1′.

 

I’m thinking we should have already started using the cold frames to boost the temperatures around the peppers and melons which were planted a couple of weeks ago, as there’s very little growth at present.

 

Sept-2
We picked grapes last night from the vines at our former house (rented out at present).
Filled a 23-quart container to a nicely rounded top.

I’m just going to make grape juice and can it.
Jam was nice, but the batch I made 2 years ago lasted for an eternity, and we gave much of that away… so much sugar went into it … just not really a healthy option.

I’ve just thrown the grapes – skins and seeds and all – into my Omega juicer.

The juice has a dry aftertaste because of the seeds, but grape seeds contain vitamin E, flavonoids, linoleic acid, and OPCs, and increase levels of antioxidants in the blood, so I’m really not complaining.

Ok … so I don’t know what OPCs are … but they were listed as great benefits of grape seeds, so it’s all good, ok?

 

Halfway through August

We have around 5 aacorn squash now.
The yellow squash (last I checked) is doing very well.
I’m going to let it die on the vine, and then save the seeds for next year.

The tomatoes are about to kick into full production. They appear to be LOADED.

Frank planted two beds worth of lettuce on Friday, and they sprouted over the weekend!
The days have been in the upper 20’s, and the nights have been cool.

 

We planted cabbage broccoli and cauliflower in trays the other night – they are cool-loving plants, and will hopefully kick into production before the end of the summer.

 

First half of August in the Garden

I noticed that the one of baby aacorn squash that I’d been watching was noticibly MISSING this morning … but another is producing on the opposite end of the bed. It’s about golf-ball sized now.

We have one yellow squash growing on a plant … but a number of the plants have also started rotting around the bases. Perhaps the weeds kept them too moist for too long?
I don’t know.

We’ve had cooler weather this past week, and the peas have perked up a bit.

The basil plants between the tomatoes and peppers are more like bushes now.
I’ve not seen any more peppers … but there are a number of green tomatoes.
I picked two more this weekend.

Sweet potatoes are doing well, seemingly.
I had to pull some of the vines out of the ground, as they were trying to put additional roots in (and that’s not good, coz it takes energy away from the potatoes under the main plant)