Pinnacle

This must be the climax of the growing season: the 2014 carrot harvest.

Do I hear anyone chuckle? It is an improvement over last year’s harvest of about 500%. So if we keep on going at the same rate I reckon we’ll have enough carrots for one meal in about 5 years.

Luckily we’re more successful with the tomatoes. I took my machete (secateurs) to the tomato jungle and cleaned a path. The result is in the freezer in the form of tomato soup.

Reflections

July and August are such great months for the garden(er). The results of all the hard work back in spring are on display and it is time to sit back and take it all in.
It is also the moment to evaluate the effect of all combinations and see what is worth repeating and what could be improved on next year.
The dahlias once again are a big success and keep on producing wonderful flowers.

Unfortunately most of the sunflowers got eaten by slugs (grrr) and they did not manage to shine like they did last year. And once again I completely misjudged the amount of space certain plants need. My tomato jungle is joined by a pattison forrest which does not seem to stop growing and the undergardener is only just about tolerating them creeping over the border-grass boundary.

And I vaguely remember planting phlox, picked up at a plant swap earlier this year, somewhere in the garden this spring. I gave up on it, thinking it also fell victim to the slugs. But to my great surprise it stuck its head up through the crop canopy, right next to the tiny apple tree which is also swamped by the tomatoes.

Next year we definitely have to change something about the way we grow the runner beans. The garden fence is a handy help for them to climb onto, but perhaps it is just a little too adventurous and not very practical to get a ladder to pick the beans from the neighbour’s tree.

Produce

Finally the potatoes were ready. Or at least so we thought because we had been waiting for flowers (apparently a sign), but they did not appear or we missed them.
In any case it was the undergardener’s birthday, a good reason to lift the potatoes from the ground and use them in the birthday lunch. And the three little wrinkly (forgotten to be eaten) potatoes that I put in the ground in the spring did not disappoint: besides feeding 10 for lunch we got dinner out of them several times too. (Note to self, potatoes are very prolific so don’t plant too many.)

Besides the potatoes, the runner beans, tomatoes, courgette and patty pans also start churning out edibles. Last weekend we turned this little bowl of goodness into home made tomato sauce and had a handful of blueberries for desert, yum yum!

After a tropical week with rain, shine and high temperatures, the patty pans are truly flourishing. They are taking over the best part of the garden and show no sign of slowing down. With this growing spurt also comes a steady produce of even more patty pans. Not long and we’ll have to start giving them away. (Note to self, also patty pan are very prolific so don’t plant too many.)

Height of summer or beginning of autumn

The signs are ambiguous. There is a nip in the air in the mornings and the days are (way too) rapidly growing shorter. But when I was rummaging in the garden today I had to take off a layer in the baking sun. And it seems like my plants can’t make their mind up either. Looking at the sunflowers you would hurry to get your thick snugly sweaters out of their summer storage. The bumblebees have done their job and the seeds are nearly ready and will be fed to some very lucky birds in a couple of months.

On the other hand the runner beans, which I nearly got rid off several weeks ago, got a second wind and started producing another crop. There are plenty of flowers still on them, so I am hoping to keep picking until the end of September.

One of the advantages of the turning season is the ripening of the tomatoes. We no longer have green tomatoes, they are reddening at an incredible speed.  Last week we had them as sauce, in a stew and today I had a big tomato salad for lunch. And with us, the snails/slugs and a sneaky Jackdaw all sharing, there still are plenty left to go around. I wonder if there will be any left to make green tomato chutney when the season really is over.