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2014 Season

End of Season With Celery and Carrots Harvested

One of the last things that I needed to do was wait for the day before Thanksgiving to dig up all the carrots that had grown this season.  I usually pick them the day before so that we can have fresh carrots for dinner.  Unfortunately it had rained the day before so I wasn’t able to pick them from the soil.  I had to wait until the day of in order to dig them up.  The good news is that I was able to have them for dinner that day once they were washed and then cooked. (more…)

Pumpkin Harvest and Final Day for Pole Beans

This past week was a little exciting especially when it came to finally harvesting all my pumpkins.  I ended up picking them from the garden the day before Halloween so that they would be as fresh as possible.  This doesn’t really matter because I don’t eat pumpkin as soon as I pick them.  Most of the stuffing inside stays fresh for quite a while.

I also picked some more pole beans which I thought were done when I wrote this post earlier in the week.  Come to find out that they kept growing right to the very end.  Now that below freezing weather has came they are no longer producing any beans and I will be taking them down sometime this week.         (more…)

One Last Pole Bean Harvest for 2014

Right now temperatures are too low for plants to produce any more flowers or fruit.  The last productive plants that are left and was able to get a late crop from would be the pole beans that are barely hanging on.  They will be removed from the garden very soon once I get all the corn stalks cut and ready for burning.

This week I went outside and saw that there were still plenty of pole beans left to pick and decided to get another harvest.  I was surprised at the amount that wast left and filled up about four containers worth of these beans.  It was enough to make another batch of canning. (more…)

Three More Eggplants Harvested

Another slow week for gardening and with the weather getting cooler plants are starting to whither and die.  Yesterday we had plenty of rain that helped in the growth of my cabbage, celery, and pole beans that are continuing to produce flowers.

I didn’t think pole beans would last this long, but I am not complaining because I love beans.  Today I picked up three more eggplants that had showed signs of ripeness when I took a look at them.  Now that I have picked three today I only have one left that is still in the garden.  That one will be harvested soon with some more good weather. (more…)

Pole Beans and Another Eggplant Harvested

Today was a sunny day and a good one after having about a week of cloudy skies and rain which was definitely needed.  I went out to the garden and find out how my fruits and vegetables were doing.  I saw that there were more pole beans to pick even though they are starting to slow down.  They keep producing flowers and as long as they do I will have to go outside and harvest more of them.

The eggplants are still growing well and I took a look at some of them and saw that one was ready to pick.  I now have two harvested eggplants that need to be cooked and eaten and four left to be harvest which may come very soon. (more…)

Last Cucumber and Cherry Tomatoes Harvested

Today I picked the last cucumber of the season making this one of the shorter years for this vegetable.  I was able to harvest quite a few which added up to a large amount compared to other years where I didn’t get as many.  They also didn’t all come at once which is great because I don’t have to eat them as fast as possible and can take my time with them.

I also saw some pole beans and cherry tomatoes that were ready as well and decided to pick them before they turned yellow or soft.  I am still getting pole bean flowers and that means more beans are on the way until the first frost of the season.  Cherry tomatoes are done for the most part and I am pretty certain all the other tomatoes are coming to an end. (more…)

Sunflower Heads Harvested

Now that the garden is coming to a close I will be writing less about my latest harvests.  This week I saw that many of the sunflower seeds were being eaten which means that the seeds are ready to be harvested.  Rather than removing each seed individually it is better to just cut off the head and bring it inside to dry.  This way birds, squirrels, or other pests will not be able to steal them.

Once they dry you can then use the seeds for anything you want such as frying them, eating them as is, or just grinding them up for a sunflower seed meal.  You can just feed them to birds if you like or put them in a bird feeder.  The choice is up to you. (more…)

Garden Harvest Winding Down

It is now September and with the fall season just around the corner my garden harvest is coming to a close for this year.  Cooler weather is in the near future and most of my plants have reached their peak or are calling it quits for the year.

Five out of six of the pumpkins I am growing have ripened to the point that I could pick them very soon.  I like to pick them later usually closer to the month of October rather than now.  Tomatoes are done for the most part with only a couple of plants that have a few tomatoes left to pick. (more…)

Eggplant, Cantaloupe, and Other Harvested Fruits and Vegetables

It has been busy week after all the harvests that I completed over the past few days.  This includes picking pole beans and canning all of them for Winter season storage.  Picking as many Roma tomatoes as possible and getting them to ripen in the windowsill.  When they ripe it is then time to make tomato sauce with them which takes pretty much all day to accomplish.

Now I have two new harvests to deal with including cantaloupe and eggplants.  Cantaloupe I picked a few days ago as well as the eggplant.  I had left the eggplant on the bush for as long as possible so that it would ripen correctly and once it reached its peak it was time to remove it. (more…)

Another Large Harvest of Beans and Corn

Now that it is the first of September the weather should be getting cooler and harvests getting shorter.  As long as the temperature is high enough to bear fruit or vegetables I will still be getting flowers from most of my plants.  This week it was time for another harvest of corn and pole beans.

Although pole beans will continue to flower through the season corn on the other hand will only grow a certain amount for the year.  They are capable of growing at least two per stalk and get get as many as four.  The conditions have to be correct in order to get more than two per plant. (more…)