Harvest Photos/End of Growing Season.

Welcome back.  Time once again has eluded me but I return with a final garden summary for 2018.  Looking forward to more frequent posts as the fall and winter usually affords me more time to work on my blog.  The bird watching season will be soon upon us and I will once again try to capture some nice photos as I participate in Project Feederwatch and The Great Backyard Bird Count.

2018 Garden in Review

Overall, 2018 was a good garden year.  In my last post,  I summarized the garden from it's beginning in May through late July.  By that time I was starting to enjoy the benefits of growing fresh vegetables.  Since then the garden produced well overall.

Following are some photos of the remainder of the garden season:

Romaine Lettuce In the Lettuce Frame

Sweet Spanish Onions, Cukes, Squash, Green Beans, Heirloom Tomatoes 

Glorious Sunflower

Harvest Time 

Salsa Time?

Snack Size Sweet Peppers

In summary,  I was pleased with the garden this season.  The new lettuce and greens growing box worked very well, as it protected the crop from critters and insects.  I was able to control the environment somewhat by using regular netting in the spring and shade cloth as the summer progressed to keep the lettuce and other greens from bolting..

As far as tomatoes, I had a decent crop before the inevitable late blight appeared, however the heirloom blend I used had more smaller sized tomatoes than the larger ones which I prefer.   Next year I will return to using a blend I previously had great luck with, the Rainbow Heirloom Blend from Harris seed.  I must say, however, the orange cherry tomatoes were delicious

The peppers were again phenomenal this year, both the large bell peppers and the small snack size ones.  I also enjoyed some Jalapeno and Hungarian Wax ones as well.

Also abundant were the onions, cucumbers, and Zucchini squash.


Garden Cleanup/Fall Crops

Summer and early fall have been extremely wet.   September brought 9 inches of rain and in October so far about 6 inches.  That coupled with about 5 to 6 inches in August adds up to over 20 inches in the last three months.

This has made garden cleanup as well as lawn mowing and other outdoor chores very challenging

At this point all that remains are some leeks, also kale and Swiss chard.  Even though we have now had some hard frosts, some crops can survive and even improve in flavor.  Among those are what I have remaining:  leeks, kale and Swiss chard.

Leeks 

Kale and Swiss Chard Remain

Following is a video from the Jung Seed Co.which covers fall garden cleanup, and how to extend the growing season and squeeze out some late fall harvests:

Project FeederWatch

As I mentioned above, it is almost time for Project FeederWatch, which begins November 10th.  In my next post I will cover all aspects of the project.  Following is a good video that summarizes this very worthwhile project.  As I have discussed in past years, it is a great family activity.

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Until next time.