Saturday, September 7, 2013

Where Has the Time Gone?

August flew by so quickly and now here it is September and what do I have to show for it? Well a few photos...that's a good place to start and how about a bit of a catch up on the garden? A highlight are the White Acorn squash, each a porcelain beauty bright against the dark soil of the fall garden but looking quite smart on a black napkin don't you think! The flesh is surprisingly mild though and white inside as well so the question remains, grow for beauty or taste. I would like both please ;-)

Technically it isn't autumn yet, but goodness, it certainly smells and looks like it. The brights are so brilliant and the darks so deep, the camera just doesn't like the challenge of making a good photograph. So here are some of the best from the last many weeks.
Dragon Tongue, yellow wax bean (both shrub) and Fortex pole bean
Beans were late getting going but they have been cropping well. My favourite pole bean is Fortex because even when mature, they are still tender. My favourite bush bean is a French Filet called Tremblant from OSC . It's a great cropper for our climate here in Nova Scotia, and delicious. They hang like chandelier earrings from the plant.
Most of the carrots have been dug up, lettuce mostly gone, but the Brussels Sprouts have a lot of growth, even though the sprouts are small. This purple variety is called Red Ball and they are growing in my raised bed.
The garlic is cured, cleaned up and in their open wire baskets for our use, but below shows where we hung them after removing from the ground. Old garden rakes make great hangers; who doesn't have a rusty one with prongs missing they just don't want to part with!

Please note the long garlics with the scapes still on. There is discussion on whether removing scapes makes the bulb bigger and I think indeed, in poorer soil it certainly would. But this garlic is quite large and as large as last year's crop. The variety is Susan Delafield, a hugely tall and later maturing garlic so at least for this variety, I would leave some scapes on as long as possible as I use them (after being whizzed in the food processor) in my salad dressings and also boil up the scape ball with new potatoes.

The above bed inside the fenced garden is still producing well but as I mentioned, the carrots are gone and that section was seeded this week with Dwarf Pak Choi and Red Kitten spinach and germinated in two days with the lovely cool weather we have been having. It is certainly time to scatter some radish seeds, any of the cool crops we planted out in early spring like arugula, mache, tatsoi. Then, when the weather gets even cooler to frost, cover them with a row cover, or cold frame lights, and you will enjoy the crop for an extended period.

So a final photo of the wildness of the late August garden.  As the hummingbirds head down south may I make a kind reminder to keep your feeders full, helping them on their journey as well as the other feathered migrant garden workers who don't spend the winter with us yet are extremely valuable to us for their strong work ethic.

27 comments:

  1. I have always dreamt of growing everything I eat with a well-maintained garden which I found out is very hard to maintain. I had my share of planting before my kids arrived. Now I don't have time to tend to my plants. Just my valuable herbs. I love looking at other people's gardens like yours. Makes me feel well. Love the white squash! Are they as good as they look?

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  2. I had the same dream Rowena and yes, it is hard at times to maintain but harder was the beginning. It has been over twelve years here in this garden. I cook a lot with herbs so mine are very special and valuable also and so, totally understand how much they must mean to you.

    Thank you for your kind comments. The white squash are not as good as the green acorn squash which have a golden interior. But I tried a few recipes and one that works is cutting each segment, or about eight to a squash (seeds removed), pan fry in olive oil and then when brown put white wine, some brown sugar and garam masala or indian type spice on it and cook down till almost sticky and squash is fork tender.

    GB

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  3. Using the old rakes is a good idea to dry garlics..

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    1. Suka, so glad you thought it a good idea. Thanks for commenting.

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  4. You garden is still full of color and just beautiful!! I love the rakes for garlic - you are so right about having one {ok, or two.....or three} that you don't want to part with. :)

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    1. Thank you Staci. Yes the rakes come in handy for garlic, especially the old wooden hay rake.

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  5. We are virtually garden-less this year, so your post is a treat. We have depended on friends for tomatoes and zucchini, beans and the odd squash. I feel rather guilty when I think of how easy it is to grow our own food here on the island, and how hard you work to extend your season. Beautiful photos!

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    1. Oh if only I could drop by with some cucumbers and tomatoes. Have you tried the refrigerator pickles at the Mennonite Girls Can Cook page? Tremendous and easy!

      Thanks for the kind words.

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  6. Brenda...what a treat to catch up with your garden. The white squash are so gorgeous. My sister is in love with your pattypans and I've taken seeds from one for her. Her plant is about five times bigger than mine. :-)
    Your garden is so beautiful!! Have a great weekend.
    Erin

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    1. Erin, wish you could walk around the garden with me...fall is in the air, and the brights and darks wonderful on the eyes.

      So pleased about the pattypans! Thanks for your comment and hope you have a great weekend also.

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  7. Wow - your late summer garden is looking amazing so full of colour. I think it has been a pretty good year all round for crops after the slow start. Love those lantern cloches a decorative way to protect your plants. Now I must follow your example and get some late crops going.

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    1. Thank you Elaine. I agree with you that it has been a pretty good year all round after the slow start. Yes indeed. Good luck with the late seeding. Radish are up now too!

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  8. Hummingbirds how lovely - we are avid bird feeders but sadly mo humming birds here. It is certainly turning nippy on a night now and the nights are drawing in with lights needed earlier and earlier. :(

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    1. Sue...I know, they don't have them in England do they? Although seems to me there was a sighting at some point but maybe I am wrong.I have not seen any hummers so far today so perhaps they have left. For a few days there were a lot of them on their journey.

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    2. No we don;t have them here only in bird gardens in glasshouses so if one was spotted maybe it was an escapee

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  9. Your garden is so bright and beautiful! Very inspirational! I too am wondering where the time has gone. It seems like spring just began, doesn't seem possible that it's well into September already. My garden is looking tired.

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    1. Thanks for your kind comments Nutmeg. Yes, seems like spring just began and poof..it's September.

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  10. Your garden is still looking so colourful and productive. I have never seen white acorn squash. The contrast between the black is wonderful also the red against the beans.
    Sarah x

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    1. Sarah, thank you for your kind comments. The white acorn squash seeds came from Baker Creek http://www.rareseeds.com/

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  11. Brenda, so good to 'see' you again :) The summer really has zoomed by hasn't it? LOVE the idea of using the rakes for the garlic - I'm always trying to find places to dry it. Our garlic dried up super early this year, I had to pull it in July already. A blessing though, as we had just run out of last year's supply. I keep meaning to tell you, I planted the Long Island Cheese pumpkins you gave me and have a bumper crop. Beautiful pumpkins, just need to find some people willing to take them now..

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    1. Marguerite I am so pleased to read you had good success with the Long Island Cheese. I think they need picking before frost and curing inside in a cool place. Bet they will last through the winter for you so don't give too many away. They are keepers. Wait until you cook one...very sweet.

      Garlic was good this year heh!! Am happy with the crop as well. Oh..almost forgot to say...I had three Long Island Cheese plants but only one LIC pumpkin! I really wish someone would lend me a field ))))))

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  12. I'm so happy to have discovered your lovely garden in Nova Scotia. I love the white acorn squash but it is interesting that the taste isn't as good as the green one.

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    1. Thanks Karen for commenting. You know, I was not sure if it was going to be white or yellow inside, rich or mellow in flavor but in it's own right, it was delicious. Just not the same as the green acorn squash. It is beautiful and seems to keep well.

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  13. Summer has past swiftly. I hope that fall will linger a bit. You and Marguerite always inspire me with your bountiful vegetable harvests. How I would love to have homegrown garlic hanging to dry!

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    1. The fall is lingering here in Nova Scotia, color aglow. You would enjoy a visit. I hope your garden is full of abundant autumn flowers.

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  14. Those white acorn squash are gorgeous! We haven't been able to grow squash for a couple of years -- wilt has been getting them.

    Your vegetable is so beautiful as well as bountiful. The vegetable beds look like they belong in a magazine and your coneflowers looked marvelous.

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    1. I was having trouble accessing your blog Sweetbay. So pleased you commented and thank you for the kind kind words. Sorry to read wilt has been a problem for your squash. Every year is different though so don't give up.

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