You can see that the pumpkins and zucchini plants have left the garden again and have taken over part of the yard which is to be expected. Unfortunately I'm not seeing any pumpkins though we have had several zucchini's so they might get a back row spot in next years garden.
Lovely zucchini's sprout up left and right along my vine. Somehow I remember these growing much closer to the middle of the plant when I was a kid rather than spread out all over the yard.
I even have a zucchini vine climbing my rhododendron (who knew that had 3 d's?) plant - quite interesting to see those where it has traveled. I will laugh if it's a pumpkin instead of a zucchini climbing that plant.
The blossoms alone make the zucchini's worth growing in the garden. So many beautiful blooms in the past two months.
My brussels sprouts are still sprouting... according to Wikipedia they are best after a good stiff frost. These are still out for a vote of the people. In the end they took up a good deal of garden space and so far we're still waiting for any to eat. Not sure they will be back next year unless I can cook up something great when they are ready to harvest.
This mess at the end of the garden is my peas, sweat peas, some volunteer tomatoes, cabbage and beans. As sad as it makes me, sweet peas are out for next year, at least in my food garden. I just don't have enough space to give them the room they need to really grow and bloom. Maybe we'll find a new location to try them out next year. Peas will be on the list, they produced well this year and with more space on the climbing grid I constructed they will do even better without having to compete with the sweet peas. Volunteer tomatoes will also be removed next year, they have produced one edible tomato so far, they just don't get enough sun to thrive by the time they get started. The cabbage is still up for debate as well, they are about due to harvest and are approximately six inches in size which is smaller than store bought but probably better. Stay tuned for updates on that. Beans will also get another chance next year, this years' plants were mystery plants the kids brought home from school and turned out to be beans. I really want to grow climbing beans next year maybe even in a bean tee-pee. The ones we got this year were good but they were too crowded to really thrive.
Tomatoes - the plant that started this whole garden craze. They will be on the list again but I will only grow sun gold and maybe one other variety of cherry tomatoes. I will also only grow four plants which will have ample space to spread out. I have been having an okay crop this year but the season was very late due to the mild summer. I'm still harvesting as we head into October which seems a bit crazy but I'll take it. I've learned a lot more this year about growing tomatoes thanks to Grandpa Z's growing techniques. I'll be following more of his tips and tricks and hopefully devoting a little more time to ensuring my plants have what they need to really deliver.
My hydrangea has really exploded this year and continues to produce beautiful flowers right outside the backdoor. I am thinking there will be several more of these added to the yard next spring to bring additional color and beauty.
Let's revisit what I planted followed by results and future plans.
- Tomatoes - one small beefsteak variety, one Early Girl and three Sun Gold - Early Girl and Beefsteak are out, only Sun Gold and one other cherry tomato variety for next year
- Peppers - red pepper - did not survive a month, peppers are out for 2013
- Zucchini - yes I do eat them! - thrived and delivered, need to relocate to back of garden for next year
- Pumpkins - these were from seed like last year - the plant grew but did not produce any pumpkins - maybe we'll find one down by the creek when we're cleaning out the garden like last year
- Broccoli - produced broccoli and I harvested before it bolted but it wasn't enough to justify the space it took up
- Cali-flower - produced some good heads of cali-flower but again not worth the space
- Brussels Sprouts - no idea why but they seemed interesting - still out for the jury, these are usually harvested after the first frost. They were a major space hog but not until after the broccoli and cali-flower were removed so they made good plants to put together.
- Chives - these did great and I loved the purple flowers adding color to the garden. No more plants since last years made it through the winter under the leaves we piled on the garden. We'll try to winter these as well.
- Rosemary - Doing good despite the lack of space it has. This we will try to winter as well.
- Sage - It's probably there somewhere... we did use it a few times but it's lost next to a chive plant under a brussels sprout leaf.
- Thyme - Did great and tastes fantastic with roasted tomatoes!
- Yellow Onions - They are in there somewhere way in the back, these will probably need to find a new location if they are in the garden next year.
- Cabbage - harvesting these soon, I'll see if these make another appearance next year. They needed a lot of ground space.
- Leaf Lettuce - Definite must, we had some terrific salads this summer but I need to keep up with the plants so they don't bolt.
- Peas - Yes, we'll do these again and give them more room to spread out.
- Carrots - No carrots for us, we don't have the patience to spread them out enough
- Radishes - Yes, we probably will do a row or two, these were more under control this year and didn't take over the garden.
- Sweet Pea Flowers - my favorite - These will be retiring from my veggie garden and will either be eliminated or need to find a new home.
- Pole beans - ** still need to plant these - Never planted these but did get some bush bean plants from the kids plantings at school. Next year I'll make sure I find pole beans.
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