Although September was still a good garden month, the weather and our harvest definitely took a turn towards Winter. I feel like the last few years, Sept has been one of the more lush months for the garden, but this month, you could see that everything is winding down in the garden. Our tomatoes got extremely scraggly, our herbs bolted and shed leaves, our peppers still produced but the fruit got smaller and smaller.
Even in the beginning of the month our front bed tomatoes were struggling a little. This was our orginal bed and we think that we will refresh the dirt very much before planting it next year to see if fruits and veggies do better than they did this season. The only issue we have with changing up this bed is that this is where our brilliant orange thyme lives. This thyme bush is the pride and joy of our garden and we hope not to disturb it too much.
The rest of our herbs in front beds got leggy and sparse by the beginning of Sept. We are working on taking some cutting and propgating them to see if we can over winter herbs in the green house. Overall, I’m excited to have this bed be all kitchen herbs again next year, but I hope to find a way to utilize them more in cooking.
Our back yard beds were pretty full at the start of the month and fell off as the month progressed. Our flower bed did well and we are excited to devote a bigger bed to this next year. Our zucchini was still thriving in the start of the month but by the end, it’s only producing flowers. We have not eaten any of these flowers yet, only the fruit. Does anyone have a great recipe for squash blossoms to share?
We’re finalizing (I won’t say perfecting) our water system. We hope to forage at least one more water barrel.
Our raspberries produced more in Sept. Or maybe the squirrels just ate less? Either way, it’s a delight to wander out into the garden in the morning as pick a few berries to eat throughout the day.
Our bussels sprouts, which we planted in the spring, are still around, the brussels themselves never got very big and I’m not sure if we should have picked them ages ago? We still haven’t, so we’ll see how that goes, or if we ever do pick them. Both they and the kale have quite a storm of white flies when you brush by them, but they don’t seem to harm much.
We’ve been working on the green house, figuring out projects for storage, heating, and comfort. We have moved a few plants inside and are making plans for what will overwinter there. We are also diligently collecting sand, every time we go to the beach, to line the floor with. My husband’s idea, he’s not sure that it will benefit the GH but it sure looks cool.
Even though the garden slowed down considerably, we are still eating from it almost every day. We had our first soup of the fall and were able to use some items. We have still be getting tomatoes, but more and more of them have to ripen off the vine. We planted a few late lettuces and chard which we hope to enjoy soon. The garden is not at it’s peak, but it’s not done yet.
What was you garden like in September? Is it lush or slowing down? Do you have a green house? If so, how do you utilize yours?