PAR Davies 9/25/13

Hi Everyone,

HARVEST TODAY 56 lb

YTD TOTAL 2208 lbs

It was drizzling when we got to the garden Wed morning but that soon stopped. Gardeners were Susan, G.A., Virginia and myself…..not as many as usual, but we got done what needed to be done. G.A. dug right in and picked the okra and pulled the bean vines off the arched trellis. Thanks G.A. for doing the jobs none of us wanted to do! The beans on the trellis (Scarlett Runners and Long Asians) turned out to be more of a novelty than an edible crop. The Scarlett Runners had beautiful bright flowers, which some insect or bird really liked, as they were quickly eaten off. The Asian beans were good--what we were able to harvest. The only problem with either of these is that there were not enough to make a nice big batch at one time, as they had to be picked almost daily. I don't know if we will plant either of these again. I think next year that trellis might be home for the prolific and long producing Camilla cucumbers (similar to the English cukes you get in the store wrapped in plastic). These were pricey seeds, but well worth it.

Loaded up and ready to go

Virginia picked tomatoes, kale, basil, harvested the Kentucky Wonders and pulled out the vines. I am reminded why Kentucky Wonders never impressed me too much as we harvested the last of the beans. They were planted later in the season, but never produced the way the other pole beans did. Susan sowed the hairy vetch in one of the concrete beds and harvested the multitudinous peppers….bell, jalapeño, shishito, serrano, habanero and banana. I found out today that the immigrant ladies at the shelter really love all the varieties of peppers and they have been able to use all of them. I was worried that they were getting too many, but they are happy to get them. We had no idea the peppers were going to be so prolific. At the end of the pepper season, I will add up the pepper harvests to see just how many pounds of peppers we picked….more than a peck I'll bet!

I boxed and weighed our harvest of green beans, peppers, kale, okra, tomatoes, rosemary and lots of basil. The shelter folks love the basil too. All was delivered along with two bouquets of zinnias. We had two small cartons of kale, the beginnings of what looks like a nice crop. We had some cabbage worms last week but didn't see too much damage today, and the prized Savoy bed seemed untouched. I thinned out the kohlrabi bed and transplanted some to fill in empty spaces. A row of lettuce was sown next to the bok choy, which is emerging nicely after planting last week, but will need to be thinned out soon.

Unloading at the YWCA office on Highland

We are gradually getting beds cleaned out, and will start on some of the tomato beds next week. Everything looks pretty good, and the two rows of turnip greens sown last week are coming up nicely as well as the cilantro. We were able to start picking some of the rosemary that we started from cuttings early in the summer, just in time for fall roasted veggies and chicken.

We will have plenty to do Saturday. Friday I will send out a reminder and a list of what needs to be done.

'Til then,

Dianne