The State of the Plots in Mid September

Here we are in mid September already and I'm wondering how the summer flew by so quickly. In mid-summer I took on a big project at work that left me little time for anything but work and canning tomatoes. I did manage to have a fun and relaxing vacation in Martha's Vineyard in August and several day trips. Having grown up in New England I never truly feel like it's summer until I dip my toes into the ocean.

Summer for me is days at the beach, swimming, walks in the woods, the smell of a campfire, road trips, relaxing days with breezes blowing through the open windows and of course gardening.

This summer the garden did very well and provided me with fresh produce to eat as well as lots of extra to preserve and fill the pantry. I had to battle all kinds of bugs that I had never seen or dealt with before in my home garden. Next year I will be better prepared now that I know what to expect.

The biggest pests were cucumber beetles, even a row cover didn't seem to help. Those buggers crawl under anything. Second place went to field mice; they would take bites out of the tomatoes as soon as they started to turn red. Third place went to the squash bugs that took out my pumpkin plants just after they set fruit.

The tomato plants got what appeared late blight at the end of August. I clipped off all of the dead and leaves and began treatments of copper fungicide. Most of the plants survived but were never the same. There are still lots of small green tomatoes, but the plants will be pulled this week to make room for fall crops or a cover crop.

Here are some pictures from the community garden plot in early September. The corn was planted on July 15th. I wondered if it would be too late, but I harvested all of the ears this week. I will let the stalks to dry and use them for Halloween decorations on the front of our house.

Borers took out my early planted zucchini but a second planting in early July has provided zucchini through summer. The plant is still setting fruit.

The mice ate most of my bush dry beans, but the dry pole beans have remained untouched. Next year I'll plant more of them.

I purchased this cantaloupe plant on sale in mid July. I started harvesting the fruit this week.

The best producers were tomatoes, eggplant, peppers and tomatillos. I had more than I knew what to do with and many were canned, frozen or given away to friends.

 Another great producer was watermelon.

Most of my fall crops were started from seed and have been planted. I covered the beds with row covers to keep cabbage moths from the young plants.

I've taken notes all summer and am already planning what I will plant next year. 

What was the most successful in your garden this year?