It is the last week before Labour Day weekend…the unofficial end to summer.
I get that sad feeling every year at this time (the same kind of feeling I get when the Canadian National Exhibition ads start running on the radio station!). I know it hasn’t been the hottest summer this year, but it has been pleasant enough for me especially when I’m working outside…45 degrees is not pleasant to work in!
We have had a smattering of everything – sun, rain, cool days, humid nights – a good enough mix to get some really good results in the garden. I think everyone who has a garden is getting different results (like, my tomatoes are over abundant but way ahead of schedule…my mom, who lives literally 5 minutes away, still has mostly green tomatoes).
Let me know what’s going on in your backyard…
My zucchini were really good to me this year (you can see here how much zucchini I had). I planted 3 plants only but they made soooo much this year….and, the zucchini flowers were spectacular!
But, just when you think it’s over (these plants above are looking pretty sad) and you are ready to yank the plants out of the ground…
…you find a teeny little zuch popping through the rubble! I guess the plants will stay for a bit longer!
And I only realized a few weeks ago that these were the only cherry tomatoes I planted (along with the pot growing on my patio)…they are tear drop yellow tomatoes.
Really yummy!!
See what I mean? My tomato plants look like they usually do at the end of September. Most of the tomatoes are red (I have picked sooo many already!) and I have to clean up the dead leaves, which is something I do near the end of tomato season.
And can we talk about beans? The regular green beans are done (didn’t get that many this year) but these Italian flat beans are so abundant. Whatever I am not cooking, I will freeze to either cook in a tomato sauce in the winter (if you’re not sure what that would look like, think “thick spaghetti”!!) or cut up and add to minestrone.
I only have one eggplant plant this year. They were tiny, but they were yummy – no seeds in these babies!!
However, they need a good washing…
Time to harvest my onions. About 2 weeks ago, my dad told me to rip off the top of the onions leaving only a bit of the stem. He said now is the time that the bulb needs the last bit of nutrients so we need to make sure the plants uses all its energy to get that goodness to the bulb and not waste it on the stem.
One lonely pepper…
I grew lots of hot peppers (habeneros, jalapenos, etc) but only one of these.
Insert sad face….
I pulled the potato plants (did you see what I made with my potatoes?) and planted lettuce plants (a bit too late to seed them so I put plants in). Hopefully they will take me into the first frost…
…that is, if the rabbits don’t get to them first! Did I tell you that momma rabbit gave birth to another 3 rabbits in the garden? They like me…they really, really like me!
They like my lettuce too…
And, look at these beauties! Soooo excited….
….for pie!!!
Can’t wait for pie!
Stay tuned for more to come as the harvesting continues!
