What day is it?

Wow, October 12? Really? One crazy summer. Sonia had surgery (old volleyball injury), Dad got down in his back, I’ve been mowing three lawns…on and on it goes. (I did manage to fish a little too!)

Boy, did it get hot again. We poured the water on and kept things alive. It has truly paid off during September and into October. We have picked 2 bushels of tomatoes in the last week and a half. They show no sign of slowing until frost! Glad to have friends and family to share them with.

We tried a new watering system this year and had what we think were good results. Dad has always watered the same way, “Doesn’t matter if it’s you or the Lord, one inch a week”. This year we read that the inch of water should be done over two separate waterings. So, we watered 1/2″ every three days. If it rained an inch we waited four or five days before we put any more on. During the dry period of July and August, we didn’t get many ripe tomatoes, but the plants were strong and healthy. It was too hot for the fruit to ripen (tomatoes don’t set blooms or ripen when temps are over 95), but now we are reaping the benefits.

Our okra did stop when the days started to shorten. I pulled it all up, sans two plants that I left three pods apiece on for next year’s seed. I will leave them until thoroughly dry and then store them for next year’s planting.

My friend Kara sent loofa seeds to me and to be safe, I planted 25 or so in one hill and then thinned to eight plants. Those eight plants I let grow up on two 4 foot cages and they got so heavy, they pulled over the cages. I will have 40 or 50 loofas. Two different people have ‘harvested’ a loofa thinking they were zucchini that were getting too big. I need to ask Kara how long it would take to cook one down soft enough to eat! They will stay on the cages until they are completely brown, then I will peel and give to all the ladies in my life. Try them, the blooms are pretty and they were no work at all. This would make a good ‘kid’ plant. I will post pictures of my new loofa cage idea next year when we plant. (If you would like some loofa seeds, send me a SASE and I will send you some.)

I did some experimenting with snow peas and yellow squash and was pleased with both. We had early squash plants die due to borers or others insects long before we are tired of the fruit. So, I just replanted after pulling the old vines and they did fine. I planted new squash up to mid August and we are still harvesting. They are smallish, but still very tasty. August 1st I planted snow peas as an experimental fall crop and they have done great. They were slow to grow during the hot weather. They sprouted and grew to 10′ or so and just sat there. I didn’t think they would do much, but when it cooled off a bit they really took off. We consider it a bonus as we have never had a fall pea pods. I planted what I had (Oregon Giant II), but will check the catalogs for a variety that will do better in the fall.

Next year I will do better in helping you with your schedule. I am looking for the perfect calendar and plan on writing a schedule in January for the complete season. It will need adjusted as the summer goes on, but I think it will come in handy as the season rolls along.

For now, I want to catch a few more fish, and see if the Cardinals can get to the World Series…

Next time, Winter onions……