Bountiful Harvest

September arrived with an overflowing garden! I spend as much time harvesting as I did on some earlier days of tending the young plants. And it is worth it... behold:

Patty pan squash, yellow and purple string beans, cucumbers, zucchini, bell peppers, tomatoes, tomatillos, and hot peppers.

Moving into Harvest Time

As August comes to an end, I know there may be only a few weeks until frost, so I'm enjoying the fruits of my labor.

Here's my colorful harvest of tomatoes, summer squash, zucchini, patty pan squash, cucumbers, and a few mini red bell peppers.

More Than a Handful

Veggies! I Instagram'd it.

That's a patty pan squash, two bell peppers, a cucumber, a zucchini, and two hot peppers.

How Doth My Garden Grow?

Everything is getting big, and a few things are ripe enough to pick. All the hard work is paying off! First we have some tomatoes.

Aji Cristal peppers, they should be harvested when they are nice and yellow like this (they do eventually turn red but the flavor is not as good). They are hot peppers, not sweet, so don't mistake them for banana peppers.

Mini bell peppers... "Cupid" is the name of this particular variety. They should turn red in another month.

Ugh... this guy has built his luxury condo right among all the Pink Brandywine tomatoes. I'll let the squatter stay, since presumably he's catching bugs.

Dear lusciously plump tomato, please turn red soon. Thanks.

Patty pan squash (also called scallop squash, UFO squash, or pâtisson for the Francophiles out there).

Gherkins! These will be slicing cucumbers but they look so cute when they're the size of my pinky.

Curious Cucumbers

Like many of the plants in the garden, I started cucumbers from seed indoors (May 9) and transplanted the young plants (May 22). The main reason is to get a head start on the growing season and to avoid loss from freezing temps at night. It also helps me distinguish plants from weeds if they are a little bigger to start with (though I suppose with time I'll get better at that on my own).

Doesn't seem like it's always the best route, though. I transplanted six cucumbers and all but this brave survivor shriveled up after about a week.

So I sowed more cucumber seeds (same variety) directly in the ground on May 30. The direct-seeded ones now are several weeks younger, but significantly larger in size. There are also two plants here, spaced about 6" apart from each other, which makes it look even more prolific.

Why is the first one so stunted? One guess is that I did not harden them off as well as I should have. Another is that this one in particular might be partially root bound... it was started in a peat pellet that has netting around it. Should be able to grow through, but the clay soil may have made that more difficult.

Either way, I know I won't be bothering to start cucumbers indoors again!