Late-mid summer report

After two or three weeks of intense heat and continued stress from various beetles, the garden is beginning to lose some of its luster. We will clear out the bolting lettuce, preserve a large quantity of kale and chard and make one final fall-oriented planting over the next two weeks. The garden frame that was planted with lettuce and kale mid-June will be ready for harvest soon.

A second crop of strawberries is beginning to ripen. I picked one ripe strawberry last night. One garden frame of strawberry plants provided barely enough fruit for fresh eating (maybe 100 berries). We will have to plant another frame or two next year so that we have enough for preserves (though the thought just came to me that these are first year plants, we may have a larger harvest next year, so just one more frame).

The woodchuck has been feasting on many young squash flowers and fruit, but there are three buttercup and two acorn squash maturing. I will have to protect them better next year. Five more pickling cucumbers were harvested this weekend. We are averaging 2-4 ripe cherry tomatoes per day from three plants. I saw the first almost ripe Roma tomato this morning.

Japanese beetles returned with a vengeance, however, they were concentrated on the wild grape vine that is growing on the Rose of Sharon. I collected another 40 or so. Their most common defense mechanism is to curl up and fall of the leaf they are sitting on, which makes it relatively easy to catch them in a container of rubbing alcohol.

Rose of Sharon

The Rose of Sharon is blooming. Morning glories are appearing in greater numbers. Four pickling cukes have been harvested so far. Cicadas began their constant drone this week. Surprisingly, I haven't seen any Japanese beetles since dispatching the first thirty last weekend.

First tomatoes

We ate the first six cherry tomatoes yesterday. They were very sweet. The Paragon tomatoes are beginning to blush so should be ready in another week or two. We also picked two more pickling cucumbers, one of which should have been picked several days ago. It eluded discovery until it was extremely large and turning yellow. The dahlias that we started from seed back in May(?) are flowering.

I decided to try dropping the Japanese beetles in rubbing alcohol. This works well, they expire within seconds. I collected about thirty of them and now the grape, cherry and peach leaves have an opportunity to recover.

I did some research on green pepper plants not setting fruit and found that it could be due to too much nitrogen in the soil, not being pollinated, needing more time... I learned that pepper plants will survive for years if brought inside during the winter and will produce fruit much earlier in subsequent years.

Our first pickle

We picked our first pickling cucumber last weekend and many more are on the way. Yesterday morning I noticed the first blush on our cherry tomatoes and the first morning glory.

Japanese beetles have been active on the new cherry tree and grape vines. I have been flicking them off, but should probably get serious and start dropping them in a can of something noxious.

Harebells, day lilies, marigolds and spirea have been blooming for the past several weeks. The dahlias that we started from seed in April are getting ready to bloom.

Further abundance

I am happy to report that our garden provided fresh produce for eight households this past week and there is still plenty available for picking. This morning my youngest daughter picked some wild blackberries. They are very sweet this year. They reminded me of my grandparents raspberries on Whidbey Island, WA where we would visit when I was growing up. This is proving to be the best gardening year I have ever experienced. There are so many fruits and vegetables thriving this year and so many to look forward to in subsequent years with the plantings of asparagus, raspberries, strawberries, grapes, apples, peaches, pears, currants and cherries. If you have been thinking of gaining some independence by growing your own food and do not have a lot of experience, I urge you to start now. It has taken me three years to begin to feel confident in my ability to grow enough food to provide for my family. There is much to learn that can only be learned through trial and error. One can begin in the kitchen by growing micro-greens or by starting a single raised bed outside. I heard the buzz of the first cicada on the 4th. It won't be long before their sound dominates the background and heralds the end of summer.