It’s Thanksgiving week, and the first frost is inching ever closer. It’s actually late this year – the year my garden was a mess and I have no fall crops growing. <sigh> But the weather is what it is. That said, I spent the weekend harvesting the vestiges of my garden’s last gasp – a few winter squash and a bunch of peppers. I also put up a new portable greenhouse to house my key lime trees and some potted plants through the winter. This week’s garden photos!
Good morning, everyone. Another HHH week (hazy, hot, humid) here in South Carolina. Combined with my vicious fiscal-year-end work schedule, I have been out in the garden only a couple of times this week. <sigh> I’m going through gardening withdrawals, yet I’m thankful for air conditioning and the small harvests I have been getting. (Small due to the heat, fungus/disease, and insects.) However, I still have some pictures for you this week. This week’s garden photos!
Finally, my harvests are “picking up.” The cooler weather has given relief, especially to my peppers. We also had quite a bit of rain in September, which helped. (Unfortunately, we have now had two weeks without rain, so out comes the garden hose again.) In addition to my pepper harvests increasing, my second crop of snap beans are now producing. This is in addition to my Dixie speckled butter peas and raspberries. Harvesting is my favorite part of gardening! This past week, I harvested 4.3 pounds of peppers, 4 pounds of beans, 3/4 pound of raspberries, and one tomato. (Hey, it’s October. I’m grateful I have ANY tomatoes!) This past week’s garden bounty!
This past week was a slow one as far as harvests are concerned. However, we received over three inches of rain, and the temperatures have dropped below 90 degrees on a regular basis now. My plants are breathing a sigh of relief…and are flowering and fruiting. So, the harvests will be increasing soon! In spite of it all, I did harvest 2 pounds of pear tomatoes, 3.5 pounds of peppers, and about 3/4 pound of raspberries. Take a look. This past week’s garden bounty!
Just when I thought it couldn’t get any hotter here, it did. This past Friday’s high was 101 degrees – actual temperature! The heat index was 110. Needless to say, I was out of the garden that day by 10:30 a.m. when it was almost 90 degrees. My poor garden is under severe stress from the heat, and I’ve been moaning about the harvests that aren’t as big as they should be (if any at all). However, when a local fellow gardener told me his garden was fried and kaput, I started to feel grateful that my crops were at least hanging on – even if by a thread. I guess, considering the heat, my garden isn’t doing that badly. This week’s garden photos!
Although it’s been in the 90s for weeks, my garden is still producing. I harvested 15 cucumbers, 1.5 pounds of winter squash, 6.2 pounds of peppers, 5.5 pounds of tomatoes, 2 pounds of beans, and 5.5 pounds of onions. Not too shabby! My garden bounty in pictures!
I know it’s autumn and many of you are even now preparing for the soon-coming winter storms; but if you’re like me, you’re already thinking about and planning your spring garden. It may still be just in your head (or in your dreams) or you may have actually started plotting it out on paper. Well, don’t solidify your plan just yet. I have some great information that will change your plan for the better. A few months ago, I posted an article about Edible Landscaping, which utilizes companion planting. Today, I’m going to show you how to kick your companion planting up a notch by purposeful planting of herbs – and flowers – that will not only make your vegetable garden look pretty but also help with pest control and pollination. I have taken my research and created a list of herbs and flowers with the vegetable they benefit and how they benefit it. Although this list is not exhaustive, it’s so long I decided to publish the list in two posts. Today’s list is for herbs and flowers A through M; don’t forget to look at the list for N through Z, as well. Learn about herbal allies!
I think we need an ark for my sanctuary garden! Rain, rain, cloudy days, mist, more rain…. Today is the first day the sun has come out in a week. I’m not worried about ground water as my raised beds drain well. However, all the rain and humidity is the perfect environment for fungus and disease on many plants. I pulled a couple of lima beans that looked troublesome (didn’t want it to spread to the other plants), and I’m investigating some black spots on one of my pepper plants. (Mold??) Yet, my garden IS growing. Come take a look!
Boy have things been busy this week here at my Sanctuary Garden! Not only do I have 14 raised beds that I’m tending outside, I now also have six flats of seeds and seedlings that I’m nurturing. The weather has cooled off since my last update with temperatures closer to average, so the growth of the outside veggies has slowed a bit. Yet, most of my winter crops now have their secondary (true) leaves. And seeds are already popping through the soil under my grow lamps! Come take a look!
Sanctuary Gardener 