End of August

It's harvest time, and I'm having trouble keeping up because the school year has begun. After days of humid weather, we have a beautifully breezy, dry day, and my energy has returned. I'm a Minnesota marshmallow, and I don't do well in high dew points. Above is the New Ace hybrid pepper. This variety is doing very well. Below are my Roma tomatoes, which are so heavy with fruit that my staking doesn't seem to be working. 

When you buy carrots in the store, they're similar in shape and size. Not so in my garden. Maybe I didn't thin them evenly or some got more water or a few germinated later than others. It doesn't matter because I eat all of them. Not shown in this post (because it's not pretty) are my green beans, which look done for the season, or my greens, which have a combination of wilting and bolting. I've replanted some, but something is going on with the lettuce. It's not sprouting even though the radishes and bok choy are. The garden is a mystery. 

Every year I wonder if I should plant zinnias again, and every year I'm glad I did. The butterflies love them. 

And below is a swallowtail chrysalis. I check it every day.

The photo below is before our recent rain, which have knocked down my hydrangea blooms. I didn't think I'd have to stake them this year because it's only their second season, but they're doing well. 

Also doing well are the strawberries. I finally got around to clipping off most of the runners, keeping some plants to expand the strawberry bed. I really enjoy this time in the garden, as the humidity subsides and I enjoy good food and beautiful flowers. And I do an excellent job of ignoring the weeds. May your garden be your delight as well!

Squash Vine Borers

This is the worst I've ever seen squash vine borers damage. I rotate crops, but this didn't stop them this year. I pulled up my zucchini (above) and pumpkin (below). I did plant a couple of pumpkins in the front yard in July. So far they look okay. 

You can see their signature damage below.

I'm going to have to --gasp!-- buy zucchini from the farmers' market. Next year I'll use floating row cover to protect the seeds, and I'll investigate the plants earlier in the season. For more information on how to prevent them, read this:  https://extension.umn.edu/yard-and-garden-insects/squash-vine-borers The photo below is there to make me feel better. In this bed are tomatoes, peppers, alyssum, dill, and four kinds of basil.