October tends to be a pretty productive month in my garden. Summer vegetables are hanging on and fall/winter veggies are maturing. I got one more significant harvest of paste tomatoes. This year was a good one for the paste tomatoes. My freezer is now well stocked with tomato paste, puree, sauce, and roasted tomatoes. I've got a good stash of dehydrated cherry tomatoes also.
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Marzano Fire
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The sweet peppers have been very productive too. I didn't grow as many peppers as I've been wont to in past years. This year I grew only 4 varieties of sweet peppers and so far I been using them fresh from the garden in various ways. We love roasted pepper salads and a basketful of peppers like the ones shown below when fire roasted, cleaned, cut into strips and turned into a salad will get gobbled up in one or two sittings.
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Florina
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Florina
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My gamble with a late sowing of eggplant has paid off.
Badenjan Sesame eggplant is supposed to be a early producer which probably helped and no doubt the hotter than normal weather in August and September was a factor as well. Now that October is looking to be quite warm as well I may have a few more harvests to look forward to.
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Badenjan Sesame Eggplant
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Another late sown "summer" vegetable is giving me some good harvests also. The green Roland filet beans are almost done with a first flush of beans and are healthy enough that they may produce a second flush. The Amethyst Purple filet beans are now in the middle of their first flush. The purple beans lose their bright color when cooked.
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Roland and Amethyst Purple Filet Beans
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I've been harvesting small bulbs of Orion fennel all year long. They tend to want to bolt right away but if I cut them before they elongate too much they are tender enough to slice thinly to use in salads. The burr gherkins are now producing so many that I'm going to have to find some way to use them other than in salads.
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Orion Fennel and Jamaican Burr Gherkins
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The broccoli and broccolini plants are producing side shoots now. They should keep producing through the winter.
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Batavia Broccoli and Broccolini
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The hot weather has sent the collards into a huge growth spurt. I hope that it doesn't prompt them to bolt. I would like to try to harvest it through the winter as well.
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Yellow Cabbage Collards
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Harvest Monday is hosted by Dave on his blog Our Happy Acres, head on over there to see what other garden bloggers have been harvesting lately.
The Sesame eggplant is new to me. The EFN has such interesting varieties. I grew the Homs Kousa squash this year, as well as the purple stemmed arugula. FWIW, several of my collard plants overwintered for me. They didn't flower until about April, though with your climate who knows how they will do.
ReplyDeleteI'm intrigued by both the Florina peppers and the Sesame eggplant. And the beans look stunning! Wish our October was like yours.
ReplyDeleteThe Amethyst filet beans are gorgeous and look at that broccoli! I just planted my first round last week. You are set for tomato products.
ReplyDeleteRisking a late sowing is always worth it. Nothing to lose and if it works - great!
ReplyDeleteGood looking collards. Not bug holes. Do you cover them?
ReplyDeleteI know this is late, but I just wanted to say "hi, hope you're doing well". I'm trawling through old gardening blogs I enjoyed for many years, and like me, you've slowed down on the thankless task of blogging.
ReplyDeleteI've also almost stopped doing it, but I am still greatly enjoying gardening, and I hope you are too.
Best wishes (from Australia)
Jamie (garden amateur)
Jamie, it's so nice to hear from you and to know that you are still enjoying gardening. One reason why I quit blogging was that I had cut way back on gardening because of challenges with critters which made gardening far less enjoyable and I also felt like I didn't have much new to contribute anymore. I am still gardening but not as intensely as before because the critter challenges are ongoing, but I'm working within that framework. I think I feel a new blog post brewing! Thanks for checking in.
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