As the weather gets cooler, production slows. But doesn't stop. We're still getting some tomatoes (although about half have black spots that spread and make the fruit inedible.) There's still lots of basil. I used over six cups two weeks ago for a couple of recipes, and it wasn't like I was lacking it today. I'm drying it in the oven--why buy?
I got a zucchini this weekend as well. The plants are hanging on, although the fruit doesn't always grow very big. Still getting raspberries, although not as many as a couple of weeks ago. Other things are beginning to go brown.
My next outdoor project is building a sukkah, and the garden will provide some interesting schach this year. Like the sunflower plants, and maybe the ornamental squash, which got huge---but is now dying. It's only after I take the sukkah down that I will finally (probably in late October) pull up the remaining annuals and finish getting ready for the winter.
Monday, September 21, 2009
Sunday, September 13, 2009
It's Still Summer. Isn't It? Isn't It?
I guess it really is fall. The weather has turned colder, still warm but not really warm enough for most of the plants in the garden. I notice that the tomatoes don't turn ripe as quickly, and the beans don't seem to have produced anything in over a week. I am still getting raspberries (not quite as many, but enough). However, I can see the end of the year coming.
The birds ate all the sunflower seeds. The empty heads hang down from the plants, some of which are 6-7 feet high. I will cut these down when it is time to build our sukkah.
I pulled up the cucumber plants, which were mostly dead. So much for "County Fair." Next year I may try planting at different times, so that some of the plants will go in after the beetles are active.
It was a great year for basil. I've made pesto a couple of times, a pesto-infused chicken dish, and I dried some for the winter. There's still plenty more. Also a lot of sage.
I'm still getting tomatoes, however. Also some interesting squash.
These are all from one plant. I left the ornamental squash we got from the CSA last year near a maple tree, and now I have a huge squash plant producing these things. So I guess our Sukkah theme will be squash! Too bad I can't figure out how to eat them.
Now I have to plan the endgame. Actually, what I have to plan is planting the garlic. Which is really staring to think about next year!
The birds ate all the sunflower seeds. The empty heads hang down from the plants, some of which are 6-7 feet high. I will cut these down when it is time to build our sukkah.
I pulled up the cucumber plants, which were mostly dead. So much for "County Fair." Next year I may try planting at different times, so that some of the plants will go in after the beetles are active.
It was a great year for basil. I've made pesto a couple of times, a pesto-infused chicken dish, and I dried some for the winter. There's still plenty more. Also a lot of sage.
I'm still getting tomatoes, however. Also some interesting squash.
These are all from one plant. I left the ornamental squash we got from the CSA last year near a maple tree, and now I have a huge squash plant producing these things. So I guess our Sukkah theme will be squash! Too bad I can't figure out how to eat them.
Now I have to plan the endgame. Actually, what I have to plan is planting the garlic. Which is really staring to think about next year!
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
The Perfect Harvest
The raspberries are coming in very nicely, indeed. I seem to get 10 to 12 ounces every few days. I am ignoring the fact that some of the plants are growing in places they shouldn't because I like getting the raspberries so much.
Of course, as I pick raspberries, a few ripe ones fall off into the pachysandra below. I hate this. I hate losing any of the produce I've put so much time and effort into growing. Until this year I was jealous of every tomato (I got enough this year so I don't have to feel that way anymore). Each zucchini and cucumber is like a prized possession. And having something happen to anything I grew just when it is ready to harvest seems almost cruel to me.
It turns out that we just read about this in shul. Last week's Torah reading includes one of the admonitions that we should leave something in the field for others (Deuteronomy 24:19-21). I always found this an interesting idea, since it goes so much against the grain of modern business. The lesson (to business executives, not gardeners) seems very clear---don't try to extract every bit of profit or efficiency out of an enterprise.
Maybe it even makes sense from a gardening point of view. It is at least a reminder that, for all the hard work I put into the garden (or not, as is the case with raspberries), it took more than me to reach the stage where I can pick beautiful black zucchini or ripe tomatoes. Not begrudging the berries that fall before I can pick them is, perhaps, a way to acknowledge that I am a partner with God in this hobby.
Let me just note for the record that I am not a partner with rabbits, and I see nothing in halacha that requires me to share with them.
(More on the laws of Peah here.)
Of course, as I pick raspberries, a few ripe ones fall off into the pachysandra below. I hate this. I hate losing any of the produce I've put so much time and effort into growing. Until this year I was jealous of every tomato (I got enough this year so I don't have to feel that way anymore). Each zucchini and cucumber is like a prized possession. And having something happen to anything I grew just when it is ready to harvest seems almost cruel to me.
It turns out that we just read about this in shul. Last week's Torah reading includes one of the admonitions that we should leave something in the field for others (Deuteronomy 24:19-21). I always found this an interesting idea, since it goes so much against the grain of modern business. The lesson (to business executives, not gardeners) seems very clear---don't try to extract every bit of profit or efficiency out of an enterprise.
Maybe it even makes sense from a gardening point of view. It is at least a reminder that, for all the hard work I put into the garden (or not, as is the case with raspberries), it took more than me to reach the stage where I can pick beautiful black zucchini or ripe tomatoes. Not begrudging the berries that fall before I can pick them is, perhaps, a way to acknowledge that I am a partner with God in this hobby.
Let me just note for the record that I am not a partner with rabbits, and I see nothing in halacha that requires me to share with them.
(More on the laws of Peah here.)
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