A tragedy occurred in the garden this week. I had a giant Dickinson pumpkin growing along in the last row of my garden that is referred to as the squash jungle. Any pumpkin that is 20 or more pounds is considered a giant in my garden. Yesterday I discovered that he had broken from the vine! I'm hoping it'll still ripen if I leave it in the sun. We will see.
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| Not Quite Ripe Dickinson Pumpkin |
In better news, my eggplants produced well this week at 5.3 lbs. I roasted many of them and then made a double batch of Szechauan eggplant with some green beans and tofu. My Serpente di Sicilia Edible Gourd vine also seems to be perking up and producing again. We finally got some rain and cooler weather.
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| Eggplant and Serpente di Sicilia Edible Gourd |
The Serpente di Sicilia Edible Gourd vine continues to grow. I don't understand how the vine is still alive. The base of the vine looks completely dead with wilted and brown leaves, but yet the vine continues to grow along the fence. The amazing thing is that this is one plant. It has produced 10.5 lbs of gourds so far this season, which sounds productive for one plant, but not so great when you see the size of the vine.
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| Serpente di Sicilia Edible Gourd vine taking over the fence |
The peppers continue to plod along. I've been roasting some of them, sauteing others and freezing the spares.
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| Antohi Romanian and Marconi Red Peppers |
I also harvested an Armenian Cucumber, which hasn't happened in a month or two. Surprisingly, this cucumber managed to dodge the pickle worms that have been infecting the other cucumbers. I also continue to pick cantaloupes. They appear to be getting smaller and smaller as the season goes on.
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| Armenian Cucumber and Cantaloupes |
Green beans and okra continue to do well. Steamed green beans are a staple around here, making an appearance for dinner multiple times a week. I really should freeze some more green beans. I've also been roasting okra and mixing it with other vegetables. My one okra plant has produced over 11 lbs this year.
It seems the tomatoes may be making a comeback. There are several green tomatoes, so hopefully they'll have time to ripen before our first frost, which is typically around the end of October. It also depends on those leaf-footed bugs that have been sucking the life out of my tomatoes. I haven't seen as many in the garden lately, but perhaps that's because there aren't many tomatoes.
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| Leaf-footed Bug aka Destroyer of Tomatoes |
Weekly Harvests (lbs):
Peppers
3.8
Okra
1.0
Cucumber 1.4
Green beans 3.0
Tomatoes
0.2
Eggplant
5.3
Melon 7.4
Gourd 2.2
Yearly Harvests: 876.2 lbs
That's all the harvests coming from my garden this week. To see what others are harvesting, check out Harvest Monday on
Our Happy Acres.
Julie- So fun to take a tour of your garden. It looks like you have a nice sunny spot. I am so sorry to read about your pumpkin! Hopefully it was mature enough it can finish ripening off the vine. I looked at your total year-to-date harvest on the side bar. Almost 900 lbs! Awesome!
ReplyDeleteI hope your squash achieves maturity, Our peppers and aubergines/eggplants haven't done very well this year, Pickle worms, and leaf footed bugs as well as corn earworms - you certainly have your work cut out don't you?
ReplyDeleteBeautiful harvests this week - especially envious of the eggplant. It hasn't been a great year for eggplant here as the plants were shaded for much of the summer by beans and tomatoes. Well, lesson learned for next time. And fingers crossed on that pumpkin ripening up for you!
ReplyDeleteThe leaf-footed bug does have a sinister look to him Julie. Your harvest looks wonderful, I really admire how organised you are with your photos and harvest records.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the pic of the leaf-footed bug! I have seen them but didn't know what they were called. I am amazed by the okra plant. I know they are productive, but I never knew they would produce that much. Is the plant real tall, or has it bushed out? I can remember almost needing a ladder sometimes at the end of the season to harvest okra. I do hope your pumpkin ripens for you!
ReplyDeleteI'd say the okra plant is at least 7 ft tall, but it also has several stems. It has plenty of room around it, which may be why it has produced so much. It takes up a good 3 - 4 ft of a 3 ft wide row. Luckily I can bend the branches down to harvest, especially since I'm only 5 ft tall!
DeleteYour garden is looking amazing Julie!
ReplyDelete