I having been picking and bringing in giNORMOUS, GREEN tomatoes. I've been fighting slugs, the chickens have gone one strike (molting), so the eggs and their shells are fewer. The only good tomatoes have been the Rutgers (ALL volunteers) and the cherries, (Also volunteers.)
I've been getting a pretty good okra harvest, but once the first frost hits, that will be the end of it. VERY mediocre gardening year for my vegetables. I'm waiting for my late planted beets to get big enough to harvest. I've given up on the brussel sprouts for this year. I guess I'll try starting them inside next July, and we'll see. =/
I planted TOO many ancho problanos and only 5 sweet peppers, NONE of the sweet ones really took off. I have 3 jalepanoes, so it was not a good harvest for them.
My FLOWERS however have been doing well. Didn't take any pictures of the gladiolas that I planted around the planting hole for my Magnolia tree, but they did well and we got to watch hummingbirds feasting on them while sitting on the front porch this summer. Now that they are done, and I am NOT digging them out (they are annuals in my zone), I've knocked down the stems for mulch for the tree. I guess I'll be surprised if any of the 12 of them make it to next spring.
I bought 3 hardy mums to replace the 2013 ones that didn't make it, so I have 6 growing along the sidewalk to the front door (that we hardly use.) It has steps and was impossible to mow, so I put in an 18" border on each side, with mums and roses and a pineapple sage (needs moving next year--too big for it's spot) as the perennials, and petunias and allysium as the perennials. I also have a couple of ground covers, but I forgot what they are.
I also, per DH's suggestion, made a bed around the satellite dish, which is next to a light pole and is ALSO impossible to mow. I put in two roses, some chocolate mint, 4 geraniums, moss roses and even a couple of spider plants. It's amazing what does pretty well outside in the summer. BOTH of these beds are for the enjoyment, too, of my neighbors. Kinda running out of the clearance bricks I bought last year, but there will be more for sale. I have 5 acres and can always find a place to stack some bricks.
I'm pulling the geraniums before we get a frost, but everything else annual gets to dies back and mulch for next year. I still need to repot 4 red tuberous begonias. I stuck them in with my shady annuals on the north side of the garage, and they got kinda tall and really pretty. I'm giving one to a friend, but the others have houseplant written on them, and I'll bet they will do well at the office, which has north facing windows, this winter.
I'm waiting for the first frost to start harvesting all of the carrots which sprouted amongst my beefsteak tomatoes, so that should be fun and tasty.
A LOT of this year's garden will just be pulled up and BURNED...but we do THAT well at our place.
, right out of the jar, and have even tossed them in the pan with porkchops to make them sweet&sour. YUM-O
