Winter is almost upon us, and our gardening has substantially slowed down (or completely stopped). However, it’s that time of year when the new seed catalogs will be arriving and we’ll be planning our spring garden. Many of you have asked me about what I like to plant year after year, or what grows well in my hardiness zone (8b). So, I thought this was a perfect time for a four-part series on my favorites for the garden. Nightshades!
Normally, I end my harvest week on Saturday, but this week I’ve added the extra day to fit in all of the final harvest of my summer crops. And it was a doozy! This past week, I harvested 2 pounds of beans, 1.5 pounds of tomatoes, a quarter pound of eggplant, 4 pounds of watermelon (yes, you read that correctly), almost 3 pounds of pumpkin, and a whopping 15 pounds of peppers! That’s almost 26 pounds of produce in one week. Holy cow, am I going to be busy in the kitchen this week! Garden bounty photos!
Considering we’ve already had our first frost, I harvested quite a bit of produce this past week – including a wonderful surprise of raspberries (after I thought the canes were done for the year). My harvests included produce from summer and fall crops, something I just love seeing. I harvested my first key lime, over 5 ounces of raspberries, about a pound of eggplant, a pound of peanuts, a half pound of greens, over 1.5 pounds of beans, 3.5 pounds of peppers, 3/4 pound of radishes, and 10 pounds of pumpkins. Gosh, I love gardening! This past week’s garden bounty!
The winter weather forecast for the Southeast is calling for a colder-than-normal winter, and I think it’s right. Last Saturday night we had our first frost – two weeks early. I woke up Sunday morning to a temperature of 32 degrees, and ran outside to see the damage. Thankfully, almost everything survived the frost. The only plants that showed frost damage were my pumpkin vines. I guess, because the leaves are so large, they presented too much surface area to not be affected by the frost. However, I’m hoping enough leaves survived to keep the photosynthesis going until all my pumpkins mature. Other than that, my garden is still plugging along. This week’s garden photos!
I had a banner week harvesting in the garden! Most of the past week was in the 80s, and my plants were displaying their best fruit just in time for the county fair. Unfortunately, the cold is coming a couple weeks earlier than normal, so this may be my last big harvest week of the year (at least, until the fall crops mature). I harvested 4 tomatoes, a handful of greens, over 3.5 pounds of snap beans (my last of the year), almost 3 pounds of eggplant, almost 6 pounds of winter squash, and over 12 pounds of peppers! Garden bounty photos!
It’s definitely autumn because I’m planting, harvesting, and canning all in the same week. Sleep? What’s that? The weather has been gorgeous, and I’m loving being outside now. No more 90+ degree days! My plants are obviously loving it, too, because they’re giving me more to harvest. This past week, I harvested almost 4 pounds of beans, 5 pounds of peppers, 2 ounces of raspberries (alas, they’re done for the season), and 2 tomatoes. This week’s garden bounty!
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!
The weather is cooler, the rain has fallen, and my plants are starting to rebound. I’m still not harvesting what I normally would be this time of year, but I’m grateful I’m getting a second chance with my peppers and eggplant. My raspberries are still producing, too. Soon, I’ll be harvesting string beans again, as well as lima beans and more butter peas. And maybe a tomato or two on the couple of tomato plants I have left. (And that’s not counting the harvest I’ll be getting from the fall crops I just planted.) So, all in all, I didn’t have too bad of a week as harvests are concerned. This past week, I harvested a half-pound eggplant, a half pound of Dixie speckled butter peas (my first harvest of those), 3/4 pound of raspberries, and over 2 pounds of peppers. This past week’s garden bounty!
I didn’t harvest as much this past week as I’ve been used to. Between my plants acclimating to the cooler temperatures (flowers everywhere! fruit coming!) and the rain/drizzle most of the week, I had only enough to harvest everything in one day. I reaped a one-pound pumpkin, 5 ounces of raspberries (most of the ripe ones ended up on the ground from the heavy downpours), a 5 ounce tomato (yeah for more tomatoes!), and 2.5 pounds of peppers. 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!
Sanctuary Gardener 