First Hard Frost

   Our first hard frost came almost a week ago (September 11th).  It got down to -3 degrees C.   I picked a bunch of tomatoes on the 10th to ripen indoors in boxes and we covered the remaining plants with sheets that night and last night.  This week, overnight temps have been cool (all forecast to remain above zero), so covering plants likely won't be necessary.

   The two small "volunteer compost squash" (Galeux D'Eysines) were also harvested on the 10th.  Their stems had mostly turned brown and they were ready to come off the vines.  The frost completely zapped the North Georgia Candy Roaster plants, so those squash had to come off the vines September 12th.  The NGCRs are a good size.  Their stems had just begun to turn brown (dry down).  They will be put in a sunny location to cure for the next week or two.

 

 

Frost on the carrot greens

   The two Burpee's Butterbush plants were slow to get going this summer and both plants remained on the small side.  Usually, Burpee's Butterbush gives us four squash per plant, but this year, we have two squash total.  This is the larger of the two (the other is tiny):

 

   The last 5 zucchini (which are sitting on the living room floor until I can either decide what to do with them or with whom I'll share them) were harvested on the 10th.  The plants were zapped by frost that night.

   Also taken out by frost on the 11th and 12th:  the tomatillo plants, some of the Anaheim pepper plants (they weren't covered), parts of the pole beans, the bush beans (filet and romas that were planted in the south garden), cucumber plants, some of the nasturtium plants, the Morning Glories, begonias, and dahlias. 

  

 

   The leeks, onions, cabbage, carrots, Anaheim pepper plants that were covered, cosmos, calendula, marigolds, pansies, and (surprisingly) the mints, parsley, oregano, and some of the potato plants survived the frost.  The sunflowers survived the frost, but they have been nibbled nightly by visiting deer.

 

A nibbled sunflower

   It rained in the day leading up to the forecast hard frost, so I pulled most of the remaining dry bush bean plants that were growing in the raised beds.  I bundled them and hung them in the shed to finish drying down.  I haven't had to hang bean plants to finish drying down for years!  The window boxes containing dry bush bean varieties were moved into the sheds for those two nights as well. 

   The kitchen, living room, and dining nook are dotted with small plates covered with coffee filters of tomato seeds.  A shelf in the plant room has been filled with small jars of fermenting tomato seeds on rotation for the last two weeks.  When all is said and done, there should be plenty to keep, to share with friends, and to donate to the local seed library. 

 

   Several weeks ago,  I cut the flowers off the skirret plants so more energy would be directed to the developing tubers.  The flowers attracted lots of beneficial insects/pollinators (and the flowers were pretty, looking similar to Queen Anne's Lace), so I had mixed feelings about removing them.  The tubers will be left in the ground through the winter and next year's growing season.  We’ll harvest them in the Fall 2027, remove some tubers to eat, and replant the crowns next Fall.

R. harvested the first small batch of potatoes the morning of September 13th.  

 

 

   There are still plenty of ladybugs and bees frequenting the garden, which makes me happy.  Even the occasional dragonfly zooms through.

  

   On September 6th, I trimmed and bagged a few varieties of garlic (Mother-of-Pearl, Northern Quebec, Pyong Vang, and Fish Lake.  I found that they, along with the rest of the garlic still hanging, was still too damp, despite having been hanging to cure for almost 5 weeks.  On the 7th, I trimmed the leaves on the garlic bundles and brought them into the house where it's dryer (the laundry room) to hang.  Another harvesting tactic I haven't had to implement for several years!  On the 17th, I trimmed the garlic, cleaned it up, and bagged it to store.

   Tomatoes:  the sauce making and canning hasn't begun yet, but the seed-saving, boxing-to-ripen, and prepping-to-freeze has.  I have been taking pictures and making notes, in between everything else, for an upcoming 2026 Tomato Round-Up post.  In the meantime, here is are some of the Romeo tomatoes.  This variety has made it onto my "grow again" list.

 

 

...and some of the Minuit à Montréal tomatoes, taken early September.

 

   The Rossa Lunga di Firena onions have looked good all summer and are a good size.  Certainly, these are far larger and healthier than the onions we grew from sets.  I don’t think we’ll plant sets again, after seeing how nicely the onions grown from seeds have done.  They, as well as the Giant Musselburgh leeks, are still in the raised beds.  I am grateful and relieved that some of the crops are cold hardy.  It buys me time, while I'm busy running around trying to process and/or store the less hardy vegetables.

 

 

   R. has been putting the 3D printer at his gaming club to good.  He has been printing components for shelving frames to hold boxes of dry beans and (light) boxes of tomatoes, as well as stacking trays to hold coffee filters of tomato seeds. 

 

   One of our garden supervisors, resting but nonplussed after an encounter with our neighbour's kitty.

 

   A deer came to visit during the daylight hours on the 13th.  Rested for a while outside the plant room, then she and a friend munched their way through the remaining small sunflowers in the south garden.

 

 

   The dill has dried down and will soon be harvested for seed.  The ladybugs have loved the dill this year.  It was covered with aphids, so the dear little ladybugs feasted!

 

 

They also enjoy spending time on the bean leaves. 

 

 

Lemon Queen sunflowers

 

 

 

 Our other little garden supervisor...

 

 

'Pacific Beauty' calendula

 

 

   'Unwin's Mix' dahlias (or "dahliettas").  Most of the ones I've grown over the years turned out to be yellow.  The red is so pretty, a real pop of colour in the garden.

 

 

Swiss Giant pansies

 

The leek, onion, pepper, and bean bed, mid-September:

 

   Some of the dry pole beans (I think these ones are Flagg) were very slow to get going at the start of the summer.  As a result, they won't be mature enough to harvest by the end of September.  This picture was taken September 8th.  Notice the flowers still on the vines!

 

 

Volunteer sunflower growing with the Plourde tomatoes and cucumbers...

 

 

Kitties enjoying the warm garden soil and sunshine near the pots of Pendulina tomatoes.

 

 

   As of September 17th, what's left in the ground are the carrots, some tomato plants, bulb onions, leeks, one pepper plant, a few beets, parsley, marigolds, calendula (well-nibbled by the deer), skirret, two ragged-looking Burpee's Butterbush plants, a few dry bush beans (in window boxes) sunflowers (deer-nibbled), mint, oregano, rosemary, a few cosmos, a bit of lettuce, and green onions.

   The house is an obstacle course of boxed tomatoes, garlic, and dry beans, hanging herbs, several squash, nasturtium seeds, and mint clippings.  It will be so nice to finally have everything processed, organized, and stored away for the season.

 

 

Lacy Skirret Blooms, Early Tomatoes, and Glorious Cabbage

How is it already the end of July?   

The first tomatoes to ripen have been Katja, Favorie de Bretagne, Scotia, and Amber, ~4 of each variety.  One small Kim's Civil War Oxheart ripened as well.  One Pendulina, three EM-Champion, and two Javelin tomatoes are at various stages of ripeness on the plants.

On the four large North Georgia Candy Roaster squash plants, 9+ female flowers have opened in the last two weeks.  There hasn't been a single male flower yet, so none have been pollinated.  

The first half of the month, ladybugs graced our garden in abundance!  I saw at least one every day.  They are so sweet, and seeing a tiny, unexpected pop of red in a jungle of green is a delight to the eye. 

While the dill I planted early in the season came up sparsely and then withered, several volunteer dill plants came up in the garlic patch.  They have grown so large that now I wonder if I tossed Mammoth dill seed that I mistook for unviable into the patch last year.  The tops have turned yellow and they are beautiful, some almost as tall as I am.  This afternoon, however, I spotted aphids at every stage on them. Arhg!  I loathe aphids.  I doused the plants with insecticidal soap and will hope for the best.  

We also saw evidence of some aphids on the carrot tops  Those got a few squirts of the insecticidal soap, as well.   I wish the dear little ladybugs would return.  They would keep those aphids at bay!

Buck the Muncher was back for Round Two at The All You Can Eat Buffet (aka, our garden).  He ate the pansies and calendula that had bounced back from his first visit, an onion top, lettuce, a bit more chard, bean leaves, some kale.  He couldn't get at most of the tomato flowers and greens now that they have been covered with plastic netting.

We have had many volunteer tomato plants this year in the gardens and raised beds.  Four have grown to a decent size (considering they germinated late), and three of those now have tomato flowers.  One, in the East garden, has tomatoes growing on it.  It will be fun to see what variety these turn out to be in the Fall.  I would love to post a picture of it, but the East garden is a visual mess of weeds, mulch, half-munched plants, and sprawling tomatoes.  

I have taken a few pictures of the tomatoes as they develop and ripen, and will post most of those at the end of the season, in a single "Tomato Round-Up" blog post. 

This hasn't been the best year for peppers (this year I have mostly Anaheim plants, and one Ghost pepper plant that was given to me).  Two or three Anaheims have a single pepper on them, and there are few flowers on the plants.  The Ghost pepper has neither flowers nor any peppers.

The zucchini finally started producing flowers around July 28th and I have been able to hand-pollinate three of them.

The "Saffron" summer squash (similar to "Early Prolific Yellow" squash) grows more quickly than, and produces earlier than, the green zucchini.  From two plants, I have already picked 4 squash and there are at least 3 more that will be ready to pick soon. 

The skirret plants are covered with flowers that remind me of smaller versions of Queen Anne's Lace. 

Two of the varieties from the Heritage bean mix and some of the Fiesta beans have grown runners much taller than in previous years.  The beans, too, have loved this summer's weather, and the runners are growing with vigour!  Some have outgrown the bamboo stakes put in the patches for them to climb. 

The Bachelor Buttons, all of them volunteers this year, are blooming on and on with regular dead-heading.  The little fuzzy bees adore them and the deer don't have a taste for them, making them among the few flowers that have been left intact in the garden this summer. 

The weather this summer has been ideal for the cabbage, and they have thrived under floating row cover.  We've harvested two so far for cole slaw and cabbage roll casserole (I look forward to the latter all year). 

 

 Cabbage (Copenhagen)

 

 

 

 

 First Anaheim pepper (July 17th)

 

 

 Kim's Civil War Oxheart, the first to ripen (July 28th)

 

 

Volunteer "Compost Bin" Squash (July 25th)

 

 Volunteer Cosmos ("Sensation Mix") at the edge of the south garden.

 

 

 

 

 Gold Harvest Peas with volunteer Bachelor Buttons throughout (July 17th)

 

 Volunteer dill in the garlic patch (July 27th)

 

 

"Pink Blush" lavatera (July 22nd)

 

 

 Rossa Lunga di Firenza onions (July 17th)

 

 

 

Borage - small and not particularly lush.  I don't think it likes being in a pot.

 

Feverfew (July 22nd) - doing okay despite having been divided and transplanted, which I gather it does not like. The flowers remind me a bit of chamomile.  Hoping it doesn't self-seed to the same degree.

 

 

Skirret flowers (July 30th)

 

Heritage bean mix

Window boxes (9) of dry bush bean varieties.  Containers of potatoes are to the right.

 

 Light Red Kidney bean pods

 

Last few poppies...

 

 

Naked poppies

 

 A bumper year for summer savoury.  Mounds and mounds of it.  :)

 

 Amber tomatoes (July 30th)

 

Pansies (still intact because the buck can't reach them beneath the netting).

 

 One of our furry supervisors relaxing in the shade...

 

...and her sister came out to join us.

 

 

 The first zucchini of the season (July 30th)

 

Cucumber bed and Plourde tomatoes to the right (July 30th)

 

 

  

Marigolds (obtained them at a local seed library and am unsure of the variety)

 

Queen of Malinalco tomatillo - this is not yet ripe (this variety turns bright yellow) but it had to come off the plant (the husk was torn and it was partially pulled off the plant).

 

 Toma Verde tomatillos (July 17)

 

 

Dahlias - 'Sincerity' (pink and white) and an unnamed white variety:

 

 

 

Woods Mountain Crazy bush bean flowers (July 30th)

 

 Roma bush beans (purple, green, and yellow varieties) in the south garden:

 

 

 

Lilliput zinnia with a volunteer tomato plant (July 22nd)

 

 

Crabapples starting to ripen (July 30th)

 

Winter squash curlicue

 

 

Sage

 

 

 Zena's Gift tomato  (July 30th)

 

 Volunteer tomato plant in the east garden