digitS'
Garden Master
What does that
Mean to
You?!
Steve
Mean to
You?!
Steve
It's August!
- Thread starter digitS'
- Start date
flowerbug
Garden Master
tomatoes in a week or two. 
usually dry and need to water. start picking some of the early beans later.
usually dry and need to water. start picking some of the early beans later.
thistlebloom
Garden Master
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August means ripe tomatoes finally coming on, projects I'm running out of time on, winter hay purchased and stacked, summer winding down (wah!).
Zeedman
Garden Master
Most years, July is 3W... weeding, watering, and waiting. (it was late plantings this year)
August is when almost everything begins to bear, harvest begins, and we start canning & pickling. That, and meals of fresh-picked veggies.
Just dug the last garlic yesterday. Water spinach healthy & ready for first picking. Eggplant & cucumbers coming on strong, snap peas reaching optimal plumpness, grape tomatoes beginning. Okra and snap beans about a week away. I'm looking forward to our first try at pickling okra this year.
August is when almost everything begins to bear, harvest begins, and we start canning & pickling. That, and meals of fresh-picked veggies.
Just dug the last garlic yesterday. Water spinach healthy & ready for first picking. Eggplant & cucumbers coming on strong, snap peas reaching optimal plumpness, grape tomatoes beginning. Okra and snap beans about a week away. I'm looking forward to our first try at pickling okra this year.
flowerbug
Garden Master
@Zeedman that reminds me i have another clump of garlic to dig up yet. it's not a formal planting but i would like to get it out of there while i can. just an old place i had put some in years ago and have been trying to get it all out of there over the years and always miss a few cloves here or there and so it keeps going. the bulbs are not that big from that space but they are persistent.
the main garlic i lifted/harvested a few days ago and it looks pretty good which is surprising to me. i thought for sure with all the rain we had this spring it would be in poor shape. a little later than normal and a bit smaller than normal too, but otherwise looks ok. the bulbules on that will be larger than most of the garlic cloves from that first clump mentioned above. when it is treated well this garlic will have some cloves the size of my thumb or larger.
the main garlic i lifted/harvested a few days ago and it looks pretty good which is surprising to me. i thought for sure with all the rain we had this spring it would be in poor shape. a little later than normal and a bit smaller than normal too, but otherwise looks ok. the bulbules on that will be larger than most of the garlic cloves from that first clump mentioned above. when it is treated well this garlic will have some cloves the size of my thumb or larger.
Carol Dee
Garden Master
August is a hard month to keep the garden going. After a spring of too much rain we are bone dry, all water barrels are depleted. Some vines are dying (Zuc and cucumber.) Pumpkins turning orange too soon. Praying for rain.
Ridgerunner
Garden Master
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August means it's time to start thinking about the fall/winter garden. I won't be planting anything until at least late September down here, but I need to plan how to do it. With my limited space where am I going to put what?
As far as harvest, the only thing I have going now is eggplant and peppers. Everything else has quit. Tomatoes are not setting on, I pruned those plants back to try to reinvigorate them for production when it cools down enough for tomatoes to set on. I let tomatoes get overgrown. A surprise to me was the purple hulled peas. They had been producing like gangbusters for a couple of months but had cut back production so I could not get enough to cook for supper. I side-dressed them and pruned them some to see if I could kick-start them again.
As far as harvest, the only thing I have going now is eggplant and peppers. Everything else has quit. Tomatoes are not setting on, I pruned those plants back to try to reinvigorate them for production when it cools down enough for tomatoes to set on. I let tomatoes get overgrown. A surprise to me was the purple hulled peas. They had been producing like gangbusters for a couple of months but had cut back production so I could not get enough to cook for supper. I side-dressed them and pruned them some to see if I could kick-start them again.
so lucky
Garden Master
The faint enthusiasm I mustered up in the spring for gardening has withered away, so all that's left is weeds and hot. Just hot. I do have a couple of tomato plants still growing, a late row of green beans struggling, some volunteer cuke plants looking like they are wondering why they bothered to volunteer. My never-fail Marconi pepper plants failed to thrive. I had waited to put down cardboard because I had been promised that the tiller would be fixed so we could till. Didn't happen. Now I am reduced to weed-eating the unplanted areas of the garden when the weeds get so high you can't see the tomato plants. Well, not quite that bad, but close.
The idea of turning the garden over to the chickens is appealing to me. Mulling it over....
The idea of turning the garden over to the chickens is appealing to me. Mulling it over....
ninnymary
Garden Master
That it's going to be my Birthday!
Mary
Mary
Prairie Rose
Deeply Rooted
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August is the month I always lose my motivation. It's the hottest most humid month of the year here, and one of the busiest at work. After working in a stuffy, un-airconditioned kitchen for 8+ hours, the absolute last thing I want to do is leave the comfort of my air conditioned living room to go work in the hot sun. If I can't do it in the mornings before I go to work, it just doesn't get done.
Aside from that, this is the month I always start winding the garden down. First frost is typically the second week of october, so I have time to grow more things, but there's that motivation thing slowing me down. I usually pull out any of the tomatoes that are less than perfect once I have my fill of tomatoes in jars and the freezer, and just save a couple for fresh eating until frost. If I need new garlic I try to have it ordered by August 1. Sweet corn is usually done by now, and the squashes are winding down. Usually at this stage I am all about taking plants out of the garden and down to the bare minimum, so I don't have to stand outside in the heat to care for them! Alternately, this is where I quit doing anything at all and have a huge mess to clean up once the weather cools off in september.
This is also the point where I start thinking seriously about what needs to be done this fall for next year, especially in terms of hardscaping. That way I can set the money aside now and get it done in nicer weather, instead of trying to catch up between spring storms.
Aside from that, this is the month I always start winding the garden down. First frost is typically the second week of october, so I have time to grow more things, but there's that motivation thing slowing me down. I usually pull out any of the tomatoes that are less than perfect once I have my fill of tomatoes in jars and the freezer, and just save a couple for fresh eating until frost. If I need new garlic I try to have it ordered by August 1. Sweet corn is usually done by now, and the squashes are winding down. Usually at this stage I am all about taking plants out of the garden and down to the bare minimum, so I don't have to stand outside in the heat to care for them! Alternately, this is where I quit doing anything at all and have a huge mess to clean up once the weather cools off in september.
This is also the point where I start thinking seriously about what needs to be done this fall for next year, especially in terms of hardscaping. That way I can set the money aside now and get it done in nicer weather, instead of trying to catch up between spring storms.
