PAR Davies 10/2/2013

Hi Everyone,

HARVEST TODAY 54 lbs

YTD TOTAL 2262 lbs

We had a good day today and got much done. Gardeners today were Jamie, Susan, G.A., Maxine, Nancy, Cathy and myself. Jamie was already busy shredding the bean and sweet potato vines when we got there. We are going to have some excellent compost, and Jamie has really beefed up our whole compost area. We have already used some of the compost on the savoy cabbage, which is is flourishing.

Nice rich compost ready to use

Nancy cleaned up the area along the front fence, and it looks so much better. Maxine did us a big favor by weeding all the beds and some along the back fence.  G.A. did some thinning of radishes and rutabagas. Susan and G.A. planted another bed in vetch. We got busy with the harvest so Cathy could deliver, and today picked kale, okra, white icicle radishes, more peppers (bell, banana, jalapeño, serrano, shishito, habanero), tomatoes, eggplant and basil. We are starting to harvest some of the fall crops and still plenty of summer crops are coming on.

Some of our harvest. Look at the pretty white radishes

I thought we'd be pulling out some of the tomato vines today, but there was a change of plans. G.A. suggested that since they look so good and have so many tomatoes still coming on, to leave them until we get a freeze. But we will have to harvest all the green tomatoes when we hear prediction of a freeze. It is amazing how the tomatoes took off. You wouldn't believe that a month ago they looked almost dead.

Wild and crazy tomatoes

We had a visitor at the garden today, Nikki Boertman, photographer for the Commercial Appeal. She had planned on running some pictures of the garden in the Bartlett edition of the paper tomorrow. However, I just got a call from her to say that a reporter was interested in doing a regular article for the paper, so they will skip tomorrow's pictures. We'll be waiting to hear when that is going to be.

Susan and Nikki

Below is a picture of the bed we planted with just a few black bean seeds. I found out that these seeds were an experiment at the University of Mississippi College of Agriculture. This was 10 years ago, and they have been in the deep freeze of the person who rescued them from being thrown away!!! So these seeds have a history. You can't see how nice and plump the pods are, but they are some great beans, and I hope we can plant a whole bed of them next year.

Black beans climbing on tomato cages

I purchased a muscadine vine which will go in the ground later this month. We have plans for blueberries and raspberries next spring, but will have to test the pH where we are going to put the blueberries, and adjust accordingly. Today was the first day of our new hours 9:00-11:00. It is still a little warm, but the garden is not as wet as at 7:00, which makes for 'cleaner' harvesting.

Just a note from my own garden.  I've been enjoying the Shishito peppers immensely.  Just blister them in a scant amount of olive oil and sprinkle with salt.  You can't eat just one!  I'll be planting these again next year!

Blistered Shishito peppers

'Til later,

Dianne