September 2009 Harvest Totals
September is the month when things start slowing down here in Ohio. We had scattered frost the last week of September, which is a few weeks earlier than usual. The weather has been very cold and very cloudy and dark, which significantly slowed down the harvests from the garden.
I harvested my onions, which was very disappointing. For some reason onions do not do well in my soil, I don’t know if it’s the acidity or the lack of sunlight in my fairly shady gardens. I’ll be growing the majority of my onions at my mom’s house next year and I’ll experiment with a few new locations here with more sun.
I didn’t get around to planting any lettuce in late Aug/early Sept as I wanted, so I don’t have any lettuce from the garden at the moment. I also got my fall cabbage & broccoli started a little too late, that coupled with the early cold weather will mean I will not be harvesting much from my fall garden. I do have spinach, chard and mache in one bed that will be ready for early spring harvests next year.
The longer I garden the better I’ll be at planting things at the right times to ensure better fall harvests. I should have a decent October harvest with all the squash and popcorn and hopefully I’ll be harvesting lettuce and other green towards the end of the month. I was also able to can/freeze/dry a lot of food for this winter not just from my garden but local food from the farmer’s market as well.
In September I was able to harvest:
44 lbs of tomatoes that were canned in chunks for winter sauces & soups
40 lbs of pears from my mom’s tree
43 lbs of pumpkins & squash that will be made into pies and other goodies
5 lbs of small onions that will be used up this winter in all kinds of dishes
4 lbs of green beans that were steamed, drizzled with olive oil and enjoyed
3 lbs of melons
2 lbs of crabapples that were used to thicken my elderberry syrup
2 lbs of peppers, mostly cayenne that were dried to spice up soups & sauces
2 lbs of celery that was used in chicken soup when I was sick and other dishes
.5 lbs of garlic that I found in the garage that was actually harvested in July but somehow got misplaced
Lots and lots of herbs that have been dried and stored for sipping in teas or spicing up dishes
Despite all the setbacks, it was still a satisfying September. I’d rather be harvesting a little from the garden than nothing at all, and I guess I keep track so that I realize at the end of the month that harvesting 142 lbs of food from my garden means that it wasn’t such a bad month after all. Besides, there are still tomatoes that are ripening on the vines and that makes me happy.
What were your September harvests like? Any standout producers?
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Quote of the Day: L.M. Montgomery
“If I wasn’t a human girl I think I’d like to be a bee and live among the flowers.”
Anne of Green Gables, L. M. Montgomery, 1908
I thought about this quote yesterday as I worked out in the gardens. I think if I were an insect I would choose to be a bee, flitting around the gardens all day gathering pollen and nectar.
What about you, what kind of insect would you choose to be?
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Harvesting the 3 Sisters Garden
It was a beautiful day yesterday so I decided to go to my mom’s yesterday to harvest my 3 sisters garden. The corn has been drying on the stalks for a few weeks now and I figured I’d better pick it before the next rain storm comes.
I picked all the corn and some of the beans that were growing up the corn stalks. I haven’t weighed or counted the corn yet, so I can’t tell you how much I got. I think I’ll wait and weigh it when it’s dry.
I also harvested some of the squash that was growing through the corn, the pumpkins I picked last week were also growing around the corn.
Lucy had a great time, she loves “Goin’ to Gramma’s”. She got to bask in the sun while I was harvesting and she got to stick her head out the window on the car ride! You just can’t get any better than sunny with a high of 63 for gardening, I would rate it as the perfect gardening day!
What’s your favorite kind of gardening weather?
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Green with Envy
I’ve declared my love for all flowers green here before. There’s just something about them that attracts me, perhaps it’s because they’re different. Someday I dream of having an all green garden filled with all flowers green and maybe a few white ones thrown in for good measure.
This year I bought some seeds for ‘Green Envy’ zinnias. I planted a few at my mom’s at the edge of my 3 sisters garden and I planted some out on our front hillside. I love how they glow in the shadows! The zinnias growing on my front hillside are mostly colorful ones: pink, orange, and yellow. I have a few green ones but they’re not as pretty as the ones growing at my mom’s. Must be the soil.
I do love zinnias, they’re wonderful flowers. Mine start to get pretty tall and a little tired looking this time of year. I always think about cutting them back, but I leave them for the bees & butterflies.
Have you ever thought about having a garden in all one color?
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Stretching their Wings
It’s been raining a lot here lately and our poor bees get a little restless when they can’t leave the hive. When we have a warm sunny day we see them all over the gardens. It’s kind of funny because we usually don’t see our bees in the garden, I see a lot of solitary bees, and on occasion a honey bee. But now that it’s getting colder I’ve seen a lot of our bees in the gardens.
I especially see them around water sources getting drinks. They love Lucy’s bowl in the front lawn. I put some leaves in it so they don’t drown.
If you don’t have water sources for beneficial insects, consider added a small basin filled with sand or straw to you garden. Make sure you replace the water frequently so as not to breed mosquitos. You’ll be rewarded with lots of beneficials flitting around your gardens.
Have you noticed more bees as fall is coming or fewer?
