Garden work mid-August

Is it still mid-August? A lot has happened. We harvested the fava beans on August 11. Had a big party, the third annual, to shuck the beans. I have three small freezer bags of leftovers, which is good. I didn’t take any pictures, unfortunately.

We have picked over 20 pounds of blueberries, all in the orchard except for two containers harvested atop Schoodic. I know that should be quarts, next year I’ll switch to the more typical measurement.

Blueberries in orchard

We are still waiting for the Reliance peaches to ripen. Last year they were all taken, probably by squirrels. This year we took more precautions (netting around the trunk). Sam propped up the heavy branches. They have great color, but are still quite hard.

Peach tree with branches propped

Reliance peaches ripening

Sam’s working on improving the orchard fencing. Too many deer are getting in there.

Orchard fence improvements

He also added two more raised beds in the hoophouse. Over the next few days I’ll plant some fall and winter greens in them. The peppers and eggplants in the older beds are growing but not exuberantly, but the basil in there is doing great. We had to protect those beds from deer who came to munch one variety of pepper when we opened the roof to the sun and rain.

Hoophouse with two new raised beds

I’m picking green beans almost daily in the main garden. Also sowed some fall seeds in empty spots.

Seedling carrots

Newly planted lettuces framed by Bianca’s white runner bean

The fava bean area freed up, so we put up a pea trellis there. Also planted cilantro, broccoli rabe, and spinach in that area.

Newly planted fava bean area

Harvesting lots of food: beets, cucumbers, a few ripe tomatoes, lettuce, escarole, radicchio, carrots, costata romanesca zucchini, kale, chard, dill, artichokes, broccoli, Savoy cabbage, fingerlings, strawberries, blackberries. Coming along: squashes, a few ears of corn, cabbage, soybeans, pattypan squash, lots of tomatoes!

Garden scan

Row by row scan:

Flower row with garlic bed beyond. Mostly poppies and daisies at this time, but sunflowers coming.
Three sisters row. Corn (a few stalks), squash, green beans. A few volunteer potatoes. Horseradish at one end and comfrey at the other.
Broccoli (Aspabroc and DeCicco). Started under row cover. Vulnerable to porcupines! Saved by electric fence, now harvesting. Some cabbage, I think.
Fava bean row, plus some Dazzling Blue Kale and volunteer wild arugula from last year.
Parsnips, first and second year. Turnips. Beets. And a patch of broccoli rabe bolting. Will replace with some carrots.
Mixed greens row. Chard, radicchio, ruby red orach, Salanova lettuce, escarole, some volunteer dill, baby Turkish rocket, and some room for succession planting.
Soybeans just flowering, fingerling potatoes, carrots. Artichoke at the end of this row and three others.
Tomato row. Plus one marigold at the top.
Fence row – scarlet runner beans (not shown), rudbeckia perennial, zucchini, patty pan squash, Hopi black sunflowers, Chinese cabbage.
Lettuces under the corner trellis. Also visible – a few cucumbers starting to climb.

Corner trellis report

I spent a humid hour and a half in the garden this morning. Plants are growing and need a little help. Okay, a lot of help in some cases.

Mostly I weeded under and around the corner A-frame trellis. And laid out more hay mulch in that area.

The scarlet runner beans are just starting to bloom. Two hummingbirds perched on the tomato trellis in anticipation.

Scarlet runner beans starting to bloom behind a maze of fencing

I dug out a huge mass of white clover which was overtaking the front doorway of the A-frame. The oak leaf and Encore mix lettuces needed only a light weeding. They look great. The Ovation mix is overgrown and mostly bolted. Hard to pick it.

The arugula quadrant has not done well at all. Mostly weeds. I tried first Sylvetta with no luck, then I planted Bellezia. A few feeble sprouts. I don’t get it.

I also started to train my 8 cucumber plants to climb the trellis. Some are too short to reach it, others are just disinclined to climb.

Bianka’s white runner beans are doing nicely at the four corners of the trellis.

Corner trellis area

There are a few little green tomatoes.

The fingerling potatoes have a nasty case of aphids.

Happily, cosmos and poppy seeds have germinated in flower pots – a late experiment.

Poppy sprouts
Cosmos sprouts “Tango”

Transplanted tomatoes

Sam transplanted 38 tomato seedlings under cattle panel trellises this afternoon. They look really good.

Timeline:

  • April 24: planted in tiny blocks made from Fort Vee medium from Vermont Compost. They spend time inside the house will waiting for germination.
  • May 4: transplanted into larger blocks also made with Fort Vee.
  • Spent time in the hoophouse mostly.
  • May 30: potted up using leaf mulch to give more growing space. This may not have been necessary, but I wasn’t sure how long it would take to get them in the ground.
  • June 6: set out in the garden.

Why is this turkey hen perched up there eyeing my garden?