Journal of a Gardener

August 5

We had a modest harvest in 45 minutes.  I pulled some weeds and got totally muddy.  The dew is so heavy at 7:00 in the morning that my clothes get wet from the contact especially with the okra, tomatoes and squash.  In spite of the wet clothes and the stuffiness of high humidity with no wind early in the day, we come away from the garden before the temps reach 80 just about every day.  The big pine tree on the northeast corner shades us for most of our harvest.  I checked the carrots today and found that they are coming along in spite of a late start.  We should be able to get some soon.  The butternut squash vines are as invasive as ever, reaching 15 or more feet from the three hills they are planted in.  We just step over the vines the best we can as we wade through the jungle for the other veggies.  I expect about 35 squashes from nine plants.  Some fruits are already 10+ inches long and have turned a buff or straw color.  The vines have not been bothered by the squash bugs and the stems still seem to be green.  When the stems start to turn brown and/or the vines begin to wilt we will cut the squashes and store them in the coolest place in our house.  (Roger Swain, the former Victory Garden man, told me in January that he keeps them under his bed for up to 10 months or more!)  This afternoon we heard John Carloftis speak at the Master Gardeners’ forum co-sponsored by Western Baptist Hospital Heart Center.  He is a native of Rockcastle, Kentucky who does roof top gardens for New Yorkers.  I am both inspired and intimidated about container gardening now.  I also am challenged by the lot at our new house, waiting for inspiration and energy to start planning and working on the garden that wants to grow here. 

August 4

The Japanese beetles are less prominent now.  I suppose they are laying eggs for next year’s population.  We brought home a half dozen spaghetti squashes and had to throw one away because it had been eaten into by a pest I didn’t take time to identify.  Onions will soon need to be pulled and hung to dry.  We don’t have a good cool keeping place and may leave them in the barn for a few days.  Our foliage has responded too well to side dressing and to ample rainfall.  In fact, next year, I will forego side dressing with nitrogen except for leafy veggies.  Following the big rain four days ago I see mold and rotting of veggies that are on the ground.  I will also give more space for tomatoes, okra, and squash next year.  Weeds that I didn’t chop out when we were moving now look like they are on steroids.  I calculated today that our daily trips to the garden 3 ½ miles from our new house cost about $1.75 in gasoline.  We count it as a modest price for the reward. 

August 3

We didn’t go to the garden today, but we took some produce to friends at church.  We use an insulated bag and place a couple ice packs in it. 

August 2

We did the regular routine at 7:30 starting with the beetles.  We had a lighter harvest, but we cut several spaghetti squash since the squash bugs were causing the vines to decline.  Patty micro-waved one moderate sized squash.  She prepared it by cutting it in half lengthwise, scooping out the seeds, perforating the skin and placing the open sides down in a small amount of water.  She added only a little butter.  The taste was sweet and the texture was crisp.  The color of the flesh was a rich orange.

August 1

The rain gauge showed 2.2 inches following the overnight rain of July 30-31.  The ground was thoroughly soaked and muddy.  Veggies close to the ground were muddy too.  That’s another good reason for mulching (which I didn’t do this year).  We got a couple dozen Japanese beetles and then gathered a big harvest of okra, bell peppers, cucumbers, tomatoes (early girl, yellow and grape), zucchini, yellow squash, green beans, peas, onions, lettuce, arugula and Swiss chard.  We called Denise to come for some arugula and other veggies and Patty canned four quarts of green beans and froze several small freezer bags of peas.