Here are a few pictures of some of my harvests from mid-July through the end of August. Notably absent are tomatoes, despite having 12 (!) tomato plants. Thanks, rats and birds 🙁
A Medley of Summer Harvests
Category: Flowers
August Mini-Bouquet
First Dahlia
A couple of days ago, I finally cut the first dahlia of the season. I had planted them kind of late (May 28), but they have come up nicely. I have seven dahlia plants total in my garden plot. Looking forward to many more dahlia bouquets in the months to come.
I made the small bud vase myself at JP Clay where I have been a member since January.
Mid-August Garden Plot in Pictures
Fall Sowing
Yesterday and this morning, I spent a few hours in the garden weeding and cleaning. I also started my fall sowing: Coreless Amsterdam carrots (a fast-growing variety), cilantro, Golden and Detroit Dark Red beets, and a fall greens mix (a mix of lettuces, chards, greens, Chinese cabbage, spinach, endive).
Getting the Garlic Ready for Storage
Last night, after three weeks of curing, I cleaned my garlic and prepped it for storage. For the hardnecks, I just clean off the dirt and the outermost papery skin, cut off the stems and root hairs and placed them in a ceramic crock to live in my pantry for the coming months. I will use those up first as hardnecks do not keep as well as softnecks.
I also braided the softneck garlic and added a few strawflowers for decoration. The braid now hangs in my pantry. As always, I saved the two largest heads of each type (4 heads total) as seed garlic. I will plant those cloves in early November for next year’s harvest.
Shallot Braids
I braided some of my shallots today, and added a few strawflowers from last year’s garlic braid. This year’s strawflowers are not quite ready yet. I am so excited to have them hanging in my pantry with the drying herbs.
July Porch
I am really enjoying my back porch this summer. (And yes, it badly needs a paint job.) I love having my tea there first thing in the morning, and a glass of wine or cool water at the end of the day, enjoying the sights and scents of the flowers and herbs.
This year, I experimented with growing flowers that I had never grown in containers before.
I had started snapdragons and Iceland poppies from seed back in February (snapdragons) and April (poppies). There is also a Poodle Skirt dahlia in the container with the snapdragons that is about to bloom. And, as always, I planted nasturtiums throughout.
As usual, there are a lot of herbs: basil (three plants of Italian and two plants of Thai), parsley (three plants), thyme, oregano, lavender (two plants), mint and dill. One Thai pepper as well, but it seems to remain small. So, again, focusing on flowers and herbs for my summer porch seems to have been the right call. (In the spring, I grew lettuces and radishes in the large containers that now are home to the basil/thyme/Thai pepper and the poppies.)
First Cucumbers
First pickling cucumbers (they are big) plus rainbow chard, basil (from pruning the tips), and flowers.
Late June
I love late June in the garden. Everything is starting to take off, and typically, there are no major pest issues yet. Apart from the rabbits, rats and birds perhaps, but no mildew, blight or aphids etc.
I harvested the garlic scapes and lettuces. The rhubarb is still producing. I also harvested mint, which I hung to dry in my pantry, and I picked some flowers, herbs and seed heads to make small bouquets. The tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, cucumbers and squash are starting to flower. Everything looks fresh and green and full of promise 🙂
