August 2023 garden update
Welcome to our garden
Late August is here. What a growing season it has been, and more yet to come! In early August, we hosted our final Summer classes; it was a joy to keep our gardens growing together all summer.
Speaking of gardens…How are your gardens? How are your daily routines as we shift to Autumn?
^Summer sweetheart two-bite tomato and mountain pepper harvest
At this seasonal time of transition in our gardens and our family life, I took a few moments to remember (and capture!) all of the different types of plants we’ve started from tiny seeds in my classes this year. The number was astounding!
Here’s my quick list:
Garden vegetables and fruits:
Tomatoes: 3 types of cherry tomatoes. Summer sweetheart - a new hybrid two-bite cherry tomato - has been particularly prolific, disease-resistant, and amazing! See picture above.
Ground cherries: So light and tropical tasting! My kids’ favorite!
Lettuce: Many kinds! Flashy trout back romaine is my go-to lettuce; it’s heat- and cold-tolerant!
Spinach: Asian spinach recently; Butterflay will be planted in September for cool-weather growth and harvest.
Bush beans: Four varieties this year; Dragon’s tongue and Sequoia are our favorites. Beans are a go-to crop for us, as they’re easy-to-grow, forgiving, and perfect to eat right off of the plant.
Carrots: Compact carrots in containers and purple full-size carrots!
Cucumbers: I’m so impressed by how well ours our doing with very little supplemental watering, and lots of room to spread out.
Peas: We planted sugar snap peas and shelling peas this year. They are easy to plant, they “fix” their own nitrogen and help improve your soil, and the compact varieties are quick-to-grow and delicious in Spring and Fall.
Peppers: Mountain peppers for the win this season. See picture above.
^Freshly-cut herbal tea bouquet from our garden (echinacea, mountain mint, peppermint, chocolate mint, lemon balm, anise hyssop, and tulsi (holy basil). Perfect in the vase, then straight to the teapot for brewing.
Herbs
Ginger!: It’s our first year, and I am so looking forward to that first sight and bite of baby ginger when I harvest in early October pre-frost. Will keep you all posted!
Anise Hyssop: Fantastic licorice smell and taste.
Lemon Balm: You guessed it, lemon!
Basils: Genovese, Tulsi (Holy) Basil, Gaeta
Mint: Chocolate, Peppermint, Mountain mint (Such pretty delicate flowers)
Feverfew
Chives
Chamomile
Sage: We see so many different colors when we make it into tea - sometimes more yellow or a rosy pink.
Echinacea: With a healthy dose of compost from my composting worms, my five echinacea plants had a major growth spurt in their second year; they’re now taller than me!
With just a bit of incremental planning and time in the dirt in the next few weeks, you can keep enjoying your harvests well into Fall. Who knows? Perhaps the best is yet to come. A few weeks ago we planted our last succession of compact peas, and I already see great summer growth on the plants.
What’s next for us? Next we’ll focus on cold-hardy butterfly spinach in September and garlic planting in October-November. I’ll also be trying to plant Mache (New York Corn Salad) for the first time in my home garden. I’ve learned that this plant can overwinter, so I will plant it somewhere where it won’t be disturbed.
As I type I hear the sounds of crickets marking the season. Enjoy all the late summer and early Fall days ahead.
Happy harvesting!
— Alexandra