Well, I decided to do a complete harvest of everything remaining in my garden today – other than the brussels sprouts. I had boat loads, actually three large pot loads, of tomatoes in various stages of ripeness hanging out. I’ve been really diligent about getting the garden covered the last few weeks and actually had not even removed the cover the last three days. It was time to call it a season. We just weren’t going to get the warmth to get the tomatoes ripe. The season was over. It was time to pull them before I lost them for good.
I started by grabbing my largest pot to collect them as I knew I had several out there still. Quickly I realized I would need something larger. That’s a 20 qt stock pot in the middle. And those are huge tomatoes.
The final look of the garden. Always ugly this time of year.
I’m not sure how, but somewhere in this low 30 degree weather, fresh buds were still finding their way about.
“We’re gonna need a bigger boat,” said the pot.
Definitely wore gloves to harvest these guys. On the right are habaneros, which I never used the entire summer. I just like to look at them. Frankly, I didn’t mean to get this variety. I grabbed the wrong kind. On the left is a variety of asian pepper that grows pointing up. They’re strange. And hot. Also fun to look at.
Fried green tomatoes anyone? Actually, I have a small do-it-yourself interior greenhouse in my basement (100% innocent. I promise, you can come check for your self) and I transported the majority of these into it in an effort to get them red. It can’t hurt to try, right? That’s a lot of tomaters. Several varieties. Cue operation “Get ’em Red.”
Brussels Sprouts still on the stalk. Those can stay out for a while yet – they thrive in this weather. Supposedly. They are all that remain in the garden.
The following images are a random collection of images themed from my garden throughout the season, taken with a cell phone or my camera. The image quality is not always that great on these. I have a habit of photographing a lot of the things I grew just before I ate them. Some of these images were posted to facebook, some were not. All of them are in chronological order. This first garden shot is May 23 and how it looked as I transferred the plants into the ground. The rest continue through the summer.
July 17
Those are supposed to be yellow. They’re called Jubilee and are low in acidity. They’re pretty good.
July 23
Effing grubs. Second time in two seasons. I’m pretty sure I’m done with the squash family. They can eat a D.
They next two images are a before and after. yeah baby!
I caught that salmon. It was effing huge. That’s a 10″ skillet, and that’s one quarter of one fillet. Oh, those are also my peppers roasting all around the fillet.
The next two images are a before and after. mmmmmmmm pesto.
Spaghetti squash! Harvested prior to full maturity unfortunately. Effing grubs were destroying the vine and they stopped getting nutrients. I yanked ’em before the grub made it all the way to the fruit.
Overall it was a great growing season. I learn a little bit each year and each year I try something new. This year I learned that lettuces, cauliflower, and broccoli take up way too much room and don’t produce enough to justify the real estate. Not doing those again. I also learned that I had no idea how large a brussels sprout plant gets. They’re huge! I’m not going to waste my time on squashes and zucchinis next year. I just don’t feel like working hard enough to prevent grubs getting in there.
I’m really glad I decided to start gardening a few years ago. A few well timed influences have really taught me a lot and I’m looking forward to continuing. I encourage any and all to get into it and I will gladly answer any questions any of you may have that are curious. It’s way easier and less expensive than you think. The rewards are far greater than the risks could ever be.
Pypeline.