Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Late August Harvest

I've been really thrilled with how the well the vegetable garden has performed this year.  Better than all previous years and I'm sure it was the hot sunny weather we've had all summer long.  It's been really dry so I've had to hand water almost every day, but this week we are experiencing lots of rain, which has been a refreshing change. 

The tomatoes have been outstanding and I've certainly been in competition with squirrels to harvest them.  I've made some tomato sauce bolongese with them and we've been having tomato salads almost every night.  I've got 8 varieties planted and the one that seems to be sweetest and most tasty is a heirloom called the German Stripe. 





We've had more than enough cukes, squash, and zucchini.  The summer squash is dying off now from powdery mildew and I'm OK with that.... we've had quite enough squash thank you very much!  I'll be pulling up the spent plants sometimes this week.



Eggplant has been abundant as well.  YUMMY!  I adore eggplant parmesan and it freezes well too.  There are also more green beans than we can eat.  I've let a bunch get mature seeds so I can dry them and hopefully plant the seeds next summer.



The perennial garden is really slowing down too.  There is so much that has gotten brown, died back, and gone to seed so much earlier than usual, but I kind of expected that since we had such a warm spring and everything seemed to be about 3 weeks ahead from previous years.  Thank goodness for black-eyed Susans otherwise we wouldn't have much color in the flower bed right now, since I don't put in mums until after Labor Day.

I was delighted by seeing this surprise in the backyard bed.  (Sorry the picture is so bad, but the light was waning.) 



I stuck this amarylis plant in the ground because I couldn't kill it even though it had long since bloomed last January.  To my amazement it bloomed again August.  What a nice surprise!  The garden although frustrating at times always brings me much joy and wonder!

12 comments:

Commonweeder said...

What a beautiful blog. I am so glad to have found it. This has been a great tomato year. We got off to a late start, but are making up for it now.

Catherine@AGardenerinProgress said...

I think we're having the type of summer you had last year and the veggies aren't doing too well. I'd love to have all those beautiful tomatoes and eggplants! The sauce looks delicious!

Anonymous said...

Wow Jackie those are some 'maters! I'm very impressed. What a bountiful harvest you've got yourself.

Love that amaryllis too. An absolute stunner. It's nice to have them indoors when nothing else is blooming but to see them in the garden has got to be an extra special bonus. I should try it sometime.

Ana said...

Hi Jackie,
Just wanted to stop by and say Hello and also to thank you for becoming a follower of A Petite Cottage. It is always so exciting to meet new blogging friends. I do hope you enjoyed your visit over at my blog and hope you come and visit again real soon. Oh and before I forget...Please stay tuned because very soon I'll be having a giveaway to celebrate reaching 300+ followers. Hope you are having a wonderful day and wishing you an awesome weekend.

Hugs and Kisses,
♥Ana

teresa said...

looks like your garden has served you well this year. Everything looks so healthy and vibrants. that sauce makes me hungry. Isn't it great to reap the rewards of all your hard work.

teresa said...

looks like your garden has served you well this year. Everything looks so healthy and vibrants. that sauce makes me hungry. Isn't it great to reap the rewards of all your hard work.

Anonymous said...

I haven't been around the blogging world for quite a while. My husband was going through cancer treatments and I took a very long break. I'm now blogging again and came by to visit your blog. I've missed visiting and seeing your works of inspiration. Your harvest looked full and plentiful. That amaryllis is gorgeous. You have a very green thumb to keep it alive for so long.

Anonymous said...

Oh, BTW, I am no longer at Miss Daisy. The blog got deleted. I am now at 3ingredients4life.com. Hope to see you around. If not, I'll be back to visit. - Jen (aka Miss Daisy)

Fishtail Cottage said...

Thanks to Kristin at "My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia" my first ever link party for Cottage Flora Thursday's is up & running! Inviting you to come over & link a cottage garden post you may have & please advertise "Cottage Flora Thursday's" on your post that you link!! & don't forget to become a follower of my blog !!!

Caren said...

I'm so glad spring is here so we can get back to summer veggies. I love the heirloom tomatoes!

ВКУСНЫЙ ОГОРОД said...

Beautiful tomatoes! I also love tomatoes and can eat a lot of them!)))

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