COLD SNAP TAKES PEPPERS, BASIL, EGGPLANT AND BEANS

We had our first night of upper 30 degree weather and I decided to take my chances and not cover anything.  Unfortunately, the pole beans and peppers were taken out by just a few hours of not even freezing temperatures.  I wasn't surprised as both vegetables are mainly summer crops and I felt extremely lucky to have had plentiful harvests from both.

The two eggplant plants also did not fair well.  It's too bad because they both had fruit on them.  I haven't pulled them up yet as my motto goes, "never give up", so I will wait it out and see if the fruit will continue to grow.

There were plenty of habenaeros and green beans to harvest before removing the plants but I left some green habeneros on one plant just to see if they will ripen. 

Video Update - November 16, 2013

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dwJ99aTf52I

FALL GARDEN VIDEO UPDATE - YOUTUBE LINK 11/3/13

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIyw1HMR4rs

Having issues uploading my video updates on Blogger.com so check out the link above to see latest video.

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FALL GARDEN UPDATE 11/3/13

 It's been over a month since my last update and there's much happening in the garden.

The spaghetti squash plant has only produced one squash and the plant started showing signs of powdery mildew so I had to cut it back.  Also, it was taking over the whole bed, shading out the cauliflower.  No signs of cauliflower yet but I am hopeful.

The green beans in this bed are slow to produce but are starting to flower.  I've had to spray numerous times to control the bean beetle which helps but the grasshoppers are not bothered by

 anything I've tried so far...  I think they do more damage then the beetle!  As long as the fruit is not affected, I can deal with chewed up plants.

The rabbit is back this year, although I haven't seen him with my own eyes, the damage is evident.  Luckily, the chicken wire fence around the raised beds seems to be working to keep him at bay but my potted plants have been providing him much nourishment!  :)

 You can see how the rabbit helped himself to this cauliflower plant, what a feast this must have been for him.
I pulled up a few radishes and left them out where I believe his entrance is to his home hoping he will feast on them and leave the potted plants alone.

The broccoli plants are looking good and I see sprouts starting to show on most of them.  Controlling the worms has been a challenge and I'm baffled by why I have such a problem this time around.  My first broccoli crop earlier this year had no bug problems at all, so why they are here now?  Would love an answer to this if anyone knows......
I pulled up the purple basil plant and am letting the basil go to flower.  The radishes are gone also, fun and easy to grow, I just don't eat them so my new rule is "don't grow anything I don't eat"!

 Romaine lettuce is coming up along with a few carrots here and there throughout the beds.  I've planted spinach seeds a few times but nothing.  I'm thinking it may have been too warm for the seeds to germinate.

Peppers are abundant and I believe will keep producing until our first frost which will probably be later this month, according to the Farmer's Almanac... :)
I've harvested quite a few habaneros and made some killer hot sauce.  The cowhorns are the hottest I've ever grown, almost too hot for me to eat.  Red Cherry peppers are slow to ripen but I

plan to harvest and preserve with some vinegar and spice.

I planted pansies in the hanging baskets around the deck, they are such a deep purple color, just love them.  They are frost hardy, so they will bloom all winter.

Happy Gardening!!

Mary

FALL CROP PRODUCING

My Dahlia finally bloomed and it is quite beautiful!  I also noticed a few more blooms on the plant so hopefully we will have a few more.

I've never really grown flowering bulbs before so this was very exciting for me.

The carrots I planted in a pot finally started to sprout, unfortunately, there is a rabbit or some other creature living under our deck and when I came out to water the other day, all the tops of the plants were gone!!  I'm gonna get that critter!!!

There are lettuce sprouts coming up but I'm not sure which variety they are as I've planted a few different kinds in different locations at various times as the seeds were not germinating due to warm weather.

The habenaero plants are FULL of peppers.  I harvested a bunch last weekend and made some killer hot sauce.  I'm going to research different ways to preserve these as there are so many of them, I'd hate for them to go to waste.

I had my first harvest of green beans, the Blue Lake variety, they were quite good.  Unfortunately, the bean beetle is destroying the plants themselves.  I have sprayed and dusted but nothing seems to affect these bugs.

The broccoli is coming along nicely, not too much leaf damage and I've been staying on top of bug control which seems to be keeping them at bay, for now at least.

Cowhorn pepper plant is producing like crazy.  Who'd of thought one plant would put out so many peppers......

The spaghetti squash is still taking over the cauliflower bed with lots of blooms and lots of fruit starting to show.  I read where once you see fruit to pinch off any further blooms to give the existing fruit more energy to grow.

The green beans on the two tier raised bed are growing however, no blooms or signs of producing yet.

You can see the squash taking over the two tiered bed covering most of the cauliflower.

Both basil plants are thriving and I'm thinking about letting them go to flower.
Radishes are ready to harvest and are some of the biggest I've ever grown.
There are more carrots in these beds also, hopefully the fencing will keep the critter away.
I also have romaine lettuce coming up in this bed.  Had good luck with it last year and I'm looking forward to some good salads again.

Kentucky Wonder green beans I planted in a pot are coming up and producing.  I harvested a nice handful the other day.  This plant is the least effected with beetle damage.

We rescued this Staghorn fern a few years ago from an abandoned house.  It was almost dead but I've nursed it back to health and it's growing new leaves.  The secret is banana peals.........

Garden Video Update 9/28/13

FALL WEATHER JUST BEAUTIFUL

 The weather has finally started to cool down a bit, at least in the mornings.  Seeds are sprouting, beans, broccoli and cauliflower are growing nicely.  Sugar Snap peas have started to come up also.

I harvested a nice amount of hot peppers and there are plenty left on the plant for next week.

 I trimmed back the basil plants and will dry them out and store for use all winter.

 The winter spaghetti squash is really taking over the raised bed.  There's actually another squash plant behind and now under this one to the left.
Hopefully, it won't shade the cauliflower and beans too much..
I have had a serious Caterpillar problem in both areas.  So far,  I have sprayed SAFE Caterpillar killer and SEVEN insecticide with no luck.  I finally resorted today to SEVEN dust.  It seemed to work as I watched the little critters curl up and die.... thank goodness.

  I am not wild about using insectides and try to stay as organic as possible, but sometimes, that is just not enough.  It's early enough in the growing season where I think it's safe and won't affect the fruit.

 As I stated earlier, seed sprouts are coming up almost every where I planted seeds.
I threw in 3 or 4 different varieties of lettuce seeds and as you can see to the left.. success!

Even though I'm not sure what type of lettuce this is, it doesn't matter....

 Radishes are forming but are not as healthy as my crop earlier this year.  Like I said, bug problems have been keeping me hopping.  Trying to stay on top of the problem is very time consuming and even more frustrating.