Goodbye August
Harvest & Assessment of the Growing Season
Shifting Seasons
As I mentioned in last week’s post, we’ve had cool nights here that signal the coming of Fall. This past week has brought cooler days as well, though it will heat back up for this holiday weekend (Labor Day in the U.S.). The 2024 Farmer’s Almanac was released today, which means we have the winter weather forecast. Verdict: cold and snowy.
Harvest
Tomatoes and beans continue to be the most prolific garden items. We’re bringing in bowls & baskets of them daily. Mainly cherry tomatoes from volunteer plants, which can be sliced and dehydrated/ sun dried or frozen. I also saw someone online today “raw packing” tomatoes with a water bath canning method, which looks pretty cool. Have any of you used that method before? The green & purple string beans are being used for dinner or blanched and frozen.
The corn is coming along with healthy-looking ears, but we always pick it too soon so we’ll need to exercise patience if we want sweet, tender corn on the cob.
The pears have been harvested and they are yummy. We’ve just been eating them sliced and fresh, but if anyone knows of a great pear recipe, then I’m game to give it a try! We’re harvesting the elderberries as they ripen. Sadly, not a fruit we can eat as we pick; they have to be processed or they’ll cause gastrointestinal distress. I’m freezing them in small batches until I have enough to process for jam and cordial. The berries have to be either used right away or frozen until ready for use, since they start to ferment within hours of being picked. At least that’s what I’ve read; it’s the first year we’ve had elderberries.
Still waiting on the pumpkins and hot peppers. They have a pretty good chance yet. The larger varietals of grapes are very nearly ready. And while most of the greens have bolted, we still have some loose leaf lettuce that’s producing well.
Some favorite blooms this week are nasturtium (finally!), cosmos (of course), and purple asters (which will be in their full glory by Michaelmas1).
This year’s main garden failures are zucchini & summer squash (courgette), melons, cucumbers, eggplant (aubergine), potatoes, and sweet peppers. The blueberries literally went to the birds. The peaches succumbed to fungal disease. So, some really big fails. But, hey, those tomatoes, right?!
Hive Update
The bees are looking better this week, after some recent run-ins with poison. In their search for flowers, a large number of our foragers came in contact with pesticides or other garden chemicals2. It’s sadly a common occurrence, and not the first year it’s happened to our bees. But this year has been the worst. The affected bees seem confused & twitchy. They can’t fly, so they crawl & stumble all over the ground. If they go for water, they drown. And they die with their proboscis sticking out.
Phillip is feeding them now, to supplement the dwindling forage. And we have extra water sources available for them in the yard, with pebbles or straw for them to climb on so they don’t drown. We have 2 hives, both with young & vigorous homegrown queens, which will hopefully increase their chances of survival this winter.
Hello, September
This wraps up a record 5 posts this month! Each Thursday in August, and it’s a pattern I’d like to continue as we enter the cooler months.
How’s your garden as September arrives? Which plants have done well for you, and which have not cooperated this season? What do you think of the weather forecast for your state from the Almanac map?
Happy Labor Day!
—Erin, in Michigan
Michaelmas is the feast of St. Michael the Archangel, September 29. I wrote about it in this blog post.
For information on garden chemicals to avoid & what to use instead: Bee-safe gardening tips
We have some zinnias doing very very well. Planted them a little late. Early July/ late June I think. Just to see if they would do well in the ground and they have thrived. They’ve invited many bees and butterflies so it’s been great to watch.
The blueberries were great but also lost most of them to crows… that was all we really tried this year. It was our first garden at our new home AND with a newborn so I didn’t have a ton of time to commit. But very encouraging for the upcoming seasons.
Looking forward to a wet and mild winter.
- Derek from Georgia
Which variety of elderberry are you growing? I don't know about the European types, but our native elderberry is safe to eat if you stick with the berries and flowers. Did you read the collaboration between me and weedom? Here: https://www.brunettegardens.com/cp/135962997
I've also dried them to put into tea, and I've heard that folks batter and fry the whole flower umbels. Also, I've kept elderberries in a bag in the fridge for as many as 3 days without any sign of fermentation.