Greeneyes .... hope your cold goes away before it gets too bad & your husbands foot heals up quickly!
Tuesday afternoon (in between rainy days), was ‘clean up the garden’ day and it probably took me 4-5 hours. Most of the tomato plants were ready to pull up - any large(r) green tomatoes were pulled & are ripening in the house. The egpplants, basil & zinnias were all pulled up as well. I left the 4 pepper plants - they are still producing. It was rather shocking how sore my back was the next two days - the mind is willing but the body is becoming aged.
My SIL gave me an heirloom variety kale - Lacinato aka Tuscan Kale or Dinosaur Kale. I read up on it & it sounds wonderful. I had a 9-plant flat that sat around for 2 weeks until I could get it into the ground Tuesday. Since then, we’ve had nothing but rainy days, including a brief spell of hail (quarter sized) & my kale is now “I-survived-the-hail” kale ... it’s growing like a weed - obviously loves Garden Tone & rain.
https://bonnieplants.com/product/lacinato-kale/
http://www.drweil.com/health-wellness/balanced-living/gardening/tuscan-kale/
Overall, I was very happy with my tomatoes this year. I will not grow Mr. Stripey again - very disappointed. I loved the Amelia & Celebrity tomatoes & the Parks Whopper Improved. I had a Sun Sugar (orange) cherry tomato plant for the 3rd year - probably the sweetest one I’ve ever tasted & produces prolific numbers of tomatoes. It took over (again) the spot where I was growing it. I’m not sure I’ll do one next year. The eggplants were outstanding - never been able to grow them before and I got two crops off of both plants (Black Beauty & Ichiban). The basil was great - enough to make a large pesto batch. The real “fun” was the zinnia patch - I sprinkled two seed packets in the middle of a bed that only had two tomato plants in it (one on each end). My mom made numerous beautiful arrangement & took them to shut-ins, gave to the staff at our church, and to relatives for birthdays. I’m planning a new raised bed just for a cut flower garden next year.
Amelia (determinate) https://bonnieplants.com/product/amelia-tomato/
Celebrity (determinate) https://bonnieplants.com/product/celebrity-tomato/
Parks Whopper Improved (indeterminate) https://bonnieplants.com/product/park-s-whopper-improved-tomato/
Sun Sugar (yellow cherry - indeterminate) https://bonnieplants.com/product/sun-sugar-tomato/
The not-so-secret secret to the great garden this year was lots of rain from early on all the way through July. We had a dry August, but everything was doing so well, I only watered once. Now, we’re back to lots of rain again ... 9.91 inches for the month of September which is 6” more than normal. If I plant more in the ‘fall’ garden (I plan on it), then everything should do well unless we get a very early cold snap. I can cover my beds to protect from frost. The other huge project & great success was my anti-crow fence ... LOVE it. Totally effective against the crows & it also kept out other animals (my brother’s dog who loves to eat Garden Tone & rolls in it, deer, skunks, etc.).
It’s always a ‘sad’ day when I pull up the garden, but seeing new plants growing is exciting. I’ve got lots of ideas for next year as far as what will go in which bed - hope to have a more organized and productive ‘plant plan’.
Just before I took this picture, most of them were lined up sitting on the fence which would have made a great pic, but before I could get the camera, most of them disbursed to the ground. Currently, they are keeping an eye on the fig bush that is in the process of ripening. Every time I see these 'guys', the song Bad boys Whatcha want, Whatcha want, Whatcha gonna do starts playing in my head. There is never a dull moment around here.
