In the garden {August}

The garden was looking quite neglected as the main gardener around here has been busy getting ready for the start of school.  In addition to that the summer heat had taken its toll on the garden. Last weekend, I headed out to the garden to do a little work.  Oh, how I needed to get out in the garden and get my hands in the dirt!  There is just something about working the soil and being unplugged from the world’s busyness that calms my weary soul.

There’s not a lot producing in the garden right now.  We have about five watermelons that we hope to harvest soon.  Last year’s homegrown watermelons were the best that we’d ever eaten.

I’ve been finding many ladybugs in our garden.  And since I didn’t release any ladybugs,  I wonder if they’ve come from a neighboring garden.  I have discovered two backyard gardens in our neighborhood…both within a few houses of ours.  I rarely see the families that live in these houses but maybe one day I’ll meet these families who are also city gardeners.  (One house is on the back side of our house so it is actually on another block which is why I wouldn’t see the family.  But I can see the corn above the fence and always hear a tiller in the spring.) 

I was so excited to have some good looking cucumber vines from a late planting.  Especially since my first batch of cucumbers all died for no apparent reason.  I walked outside one morning to find my current replants of cucumbers looking horrible!  And the next day, they looked like the picture above.  I haven’t a clue what is going on.  A pest problem?  A soil problem?  I am truly bummed.  I missed having homegrown cucumbers this summer and I had my heart set on making pickles!

While we may not have cucumbers, we definitely have peppers!  The cayenne pepper plant above wasn’t even planted by us.  It’s from the compost!  I love that!  We also have banana peppers, jalapeno peppers, poblano peppers, and bell peppers.  I need to make some pepper sauce and pepper jelly! 

We still have okra too.  However, last night as I was prepping some okra for a batch of fried okra, I found out that the okra was incredibly woody.  Even the small okras were woody and falling apart as I cut.  I had some sad kids when they realized that fried okra was not going to be on the menu.  That’s a favorite around here.  {smile}

 

The summer garden is going.  And the fall garden will soon be showing life and growth.

How is your summer garden?  Have you started your fall garden yet?