July ended and August began with a short-lived (4 day) heat wave - sunny, clear, hot days in the low 30s. The cucumbers and squash loved it. The tomatoes and beans, not so much. This morning was the opposite extreme: cool, grey, and drizzly, 14 degrees C at 11:30AM.
Here is where things stand in the garden at the start of August:
The north garden - tomatoes (Clear Pink Early and Early Annie) and dry peas (Gold Harvest) along the back, dry and snap beans in the middle, and white scallop squash plants on the right side of this picture (no squash on them yet).
The south garden is basically a big pea patch this year, with a bit of kale growing on the shady side. On the left side of the picture is a row of Green Beauty snow peas and the rest are Green Arrow shelling peas.
Green Beauty snow peas. I am so glad I tried these this summer. They produce abundantly and even though the pods get large for snow peas, they remain tender. Excellent to snack on raw, and delicious steamed. I've already had a few batches steamed with supper, and R. sometimes takes a bag with him for the guys to snack on during their RPG nights at the club.
R. spotted some volunteer shelling peas growing in the compost bin!
Gold Harvest dry peas. The plants are short (~ 2.5 feet tall) and the pods are small, but there are loads of them.
The garlic and potato patch. The garlic is typically harvested and hung in mid-August, if the weather cooperates. I stop watering it 2-3 weeks before it's to be dug up so the skins on the bulbs have a chance to dry a bit before the garlic's pulled.
Table King acorn squash in the two large containers, and lovage in the purple pot. It's a long shot that we'll get acorn squash before the frost hits. It's "DTM" (days-to-maturity) is long (90+ DTM) and I didn't get them started until early-to-mid June. I should have started them indoors in late May on heat mats, though June was chilly so it might not have worked as a head-start even if I had. Maybe we'll have a nice, warm September with no killing frosts until October and manage to get some acorn squash. A girl can hope!
Lacinato kale on the left, a sunflower on the right, and a Table King acorn squash plant in the middle. I over-planted this container... Might have to pull the kale out to give the squash space to continue growing.
Flower bed on the left, tomatoes along the back, and dry bush beans in window-box planters along the front.
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Petitbec (or, "Doucet's Petit Bec") produced the first ripe tomatoes on August 1. One of the earliest varieties I have grown.
Indigo Pear Drops tomatoes. When ripe, the bottoms will be yellow and the shoulders will remain purple. Purple tomatoes are grabbing a lot of attention in the garden!
Little Lou, eager to join me on an early morning tour of the garden. The petunias were given to me by the daughters of a gardening friend. It was a wonderful surprise, and they are such a soft, pretty pink.
Johnny Jump-Ups (pansies), Swiss Giant Pansies, and Little Firebirds nasturtiums.
Things are coming along nicely on the south side of the house.
Andean tomatoes
Japanese Black Trifele tomatoes
Reinhard's Chocolate Hearts tomatoes
The weather was so hot early this week that many of the clusters of tomato flowers near the tops of the plants burned to a crisp and fell off. Arhg! This happened mainly on the EM-Champion plants, but also on Monomakh's Hat and a few Petitbec.
Dwarf Siberian kale
Orangelo Thyme
Queen Sophia marigolds on the left and Berna Velvet Blue pansies on the right.
Orangelo thyme on the left (little black pot) and lime basil on the right.
Dazzling Blue kale and a Swiss Giant pansy.
Dazzling blue kale, Swiss Giant pansies, and Italian Flat-Leaf parsley along the front.
Little Lou watching me water the plants.
I think these are French marigolds - Janie Bright, perhaps? Love the little pompoms in the middle.
Queen Sophia marigolds. These have done really well. I have only had to dead-head 3 flowers from the plants all season.
Bonbon calendula
Towards the end of July, the Frosted Salmon poppies began to drop their petals. Each one seemed to last about 3 days after blooming before their petals fell. The inside of the petals (near the pod) are white, while the outside is pink. The colours remind me of peppermint candies. So pretty. I am eager to collect seeds at the end of the season to share with friends and replant next Spring.
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Little Lou enjoying some rain water.
The white scallop squash is just starting to put out flowers (no female flowers yet).
We finally have some zucchini growing. Relish, here I come!
A few Bonbon calendula in the left-hand corner of the planter and a small sunflower and volunteer asparagus at the back. In the center, two Burpee's Butterbush squash plants. They're just starting to produce flowers - only male flowers thus far, so no squash has set.
Pineapple sage
Dark orange nasturtiums
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I found an old packet of cinnamon basil seeds I received in a trade years ago. Those seeds were planted and a single little plant grew. Enough to enjoy. :)
Sage in the background and a few undersized onions to the left.
So many plants to sniff and bugs to chase!
The garbage cans serve as water barrels. Cucumbers and a bit of Summer Savoury at the bottom of the picture.
Alaska Red Shades nasturtiums
Galeux D'Eysines (a French heirloom pumpkin). This is my third time growing them. Usually, we get 6-8 pumpkins by the end of the season, about 2 per plant. This year, there have been loads of male flowers but few female flowers. Only 4 or 5 have set, and of those, only 2 look like they're on track re: growth. Maybe they need warmer weather? Or some fertilizer? In any case, I hope things pick up this month and we receive a typical harvest. Even one good-sized, mature pumpkin per plant would be wonderful.
These two are on-track...
...while the rest are about this size. Tiny!
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