Rhubarb, asparagus and a giant overwintered leek.
I planted basil and sage in the plot and checked on the progress of my vegetables I planted from seed: the peas, radishes, lettuce and chard came in nicely. The beets are just starting to show. So does the kale but the flea beetles are hard at work here this spring. The carrots are a no-show.
The seedlings – Brussels sprouts and leeks – are looking good.
With help from my plot neighbor David who generously offered to share his bounty. About a third comes from my asparagus micro-patch, seen below a couple of days earlier, the rest is from his patch. And this asparagus mushroom tart is what I will be making for dinner tonight, but I will use regular pizza dough instead of puff pastry and will substitute cremini mushrooms. So good!
It is the end of January and a few days ago, I finished the last of the hot peppers I grew in a container on our porch. I had harvested them in November and stored them in the refrigerator. I was surprised how well they kept. I was sad to see them go, but I got a fuzzy feeling cutting them up and adding them to a tasty beef chili. Nothing better than cooking with home-grown veggies from the garden. In the middle of winter no less. I also still have home-grown carrots in the fridge and of course lots of garlic in the pantry. I think the garlic will last me all through the season.
Leeks … the only thing still growing in my plot. Today I spent a few hours in the garden harvesting my last carrots, parsley and kale and a handful of leeks before I did a final weeding of my plot and added a cover of salt marsh hay for the winter. I checked on the garlic and saw a couple of thin green sprouts.
I am sad the season is coming to an end, but it was a pretty good one. Tonight for dinner, we had roasted vegetables (the leeks, carrots and garlic came from my garden) with a smokey yogurt dip and salad (parsley from the garden). It always feels good to have home-grown food on the table.
September bouquet: dahlias, parsley, radishes and asparagus
The four dahlias I planted this year gave me plenty of flowers for beautiful arrangements all summer and fall, big and small. I liked experimenting with combinations of flowering vegetables and even weeds.
Mini dahlia in soy sauce dish
Unfortunately, the night frost we had a few days ago killed them off and the day after, I dug up the tubers. I cut off the flower stalks leaving about 3 to 4 inches and carefully dug up the tubers using a pitchfork and then gently shook off most of the dirt. I am letting them dry in a paper bag for a few days before I will store them over the winter in the basement. I will trim the stalks to 1 to 2 inches and store the tubers in a basket or some other well ventilated container loosely filled with lightly moistened peat moss or vermiculite. I then inspect them regularly during the winter to make sure they do not rot and do not dry out. Any rotting parts will be removed. Here’s to hoping they will survive.
Today, I harvested my last beets and my first leeks plus kale and the last handful of green tomatoes before I pulled the plants. I also harvested some forgotten potatoes before the rain forced me inside. Still going strong in the garden: carrots, radishes, leeks, Chard, chicory, kale, onions, parsley and flowers. 
Dahlia, parsley flowers and foliage
Volunteer fingerling potatoes
I must have left some potatoes in the ground last year and I found three potato plants that came up this spring. Those were super early, earlier than the ones I planted intentionally, which still have green foliage. I usually pull volunteer crops but left these and harvested some super delicious fingerlings yesterday.
Garden plot “bouquet”: dahlia, mint, asparagus and yarrow.Last night while watering my garden, I took stock of what is going on right now. I have a couple of tomato plants that are not producing as heavily as I would want them to and one cucumber plant which has given and is giving me plenty of delicious cucumbers. I also harvested a bunch of beets, kale and parsley, and a small bouquet of flowers and herbs.
The radishes, carrots, lettuce and bok choi I planted a few weeks ago are coming along nicely. I had also planted pole beans earlier (my second batch and a little late this season because the first batch of seeds went right to the birds apparently) and they are looking alright. The leeks are looking good as well and the potato foliage is starting to yellow.
Two weeks ago, I harvested most of my garlic. I had planted a ton of softneck garlic last fall, but I realized in the course of the spring and summer, that I had a few hardneck volunteers popping up in clusters all over my garden. Those came from plants that I had forgotten to harvest last year or where the stalk had broken off and I had not dug up the bulbs. They produced several small heads very close to each other as they all came from the same garlic head. 
Garlic right after harvest
For curing, I normally spread the garlic in a single layer in the sun for a couple of hours, just to dry off the dirt. I then gently rub off the dirt, leaving the skin intact and hang the garlic to dry in a ventilated place. A cool place would be ideal, but that is really an illusion for the humid, hot summers here in the Northeast.
Dried and cleaned
I found that our back hallway is a fine place, especially in the cool summer mornings and evenings. The hallway connects the kitchen with the back porch and we usually leave it open, even during the night. I leave the garlic there to dry until the leaves and stalks are very papery, about two to three weeks. Then, for hardnecks, I cut off the stalks and store them in a basket in the pantry. This is my first year growing softnecks and my first attempt at braiding garlic (see above).
Space-saving drying places -1
Space-saving drying places -2
I spent several hours on this cool cloudy summer day weeding, harvesting and planting. I pulled all remaining carrots (a total of 2.5 pounds), a couple of large cucumbers and some beets. Also parsley. The plan is to turn the carrots and parsley into a Moroccan carrot salad (I always cook the carrots). The beets will be roasted and either go in a salad or will top some fresh bread with goat cheese. I also pulled the last garlic and sowed radishes, carrots, bok choi and lettuces.