August Garden

Our garden is looking August shabby. It's been worse other years, but last year and our first year were just so much better. The powdery mildew and blight have been brutal this year.

Tomatoes
We've had a lot of delicious tomatoes this summer - not as many as last year, but better than other years.  I can say it's been a medium harvest... Enough for everyday use, a few to share, but not enough to make big pots of tomato sauce. Olive likes to pick them and put them in the basket or eat the big ones like an apple - it's so cute.

The blight has really done a number on the tomato plants. They have no green leaves on the bottom two thirds of the plants and lots of stringy stalks.

Vines
The powdery mildew has done a number on the cucumber vines and melon vines. I've had a ton of cucumbers, but the vines have been sickly and wilting. We've also had a lot of melons too, despite mildew and poor vine health - planting the seeds early indoors has made such a difference in produce.

Flowers
The flowers are doing really well, better than anything else. The dahlias are prolific with dark red, light purple and yellow blooms. As always there are tons of zinnias (even one growing in the pathway!). The sunflower is still growing... I think we might get one in September?

I'm treating myself to a lot of bouquets in the house - there's always fresh flowers! 

Beans, Carrots and Herbs
The herbs are doing well - this has been a great year for oregano, basil and thyme. They are all huge and happy. The pole beans have also been out of control, prolific. We've had so many green beans it's ridiculous. I don't think we've ever had so many before!

It's also a great year for carrots - they are much bigger in August than other years. We're already picking them and in the past they usually aren't ready before late September/early October. Oliver loves carrots, so these are particularly fun and exciting for him - he loves to pull them out of the ground and wash them by himself in the sink. Then I wash them again and cook them.

Overall it's been a very good year for the garden, despite the mildew and blight we've had a ton of fruits and veggies. It's so much fun to pick our own food and it's been so great with Oliver. 

Fruit, Trees and Pots
The fig trees have grown so tall! The brown turkey fig is almost 7 feet tall, despite the fact that it froze almost to the ground last winter.  It's also covered in little figs. The Chicago Hardy fig is really full and growing taller, no figs yet but that should happen next year (it takes 3 years).

In the pots I have a ton of peppers and the lemon and lime trees are doing well, dotted with little lemons and limes. This late in the season all the berries are over (the last few blackberries have been eaten by the birds).