Late Summer Garden Update

Its been a while since the last garden update, and I was going to make a really big post with lots of pictures, but then I got lazy. You probably wouldn't have wanted to read a really long post anyway.

August is supposed to be the month with tons of produce. Here at the Miller Homestead, it seemed to be the month of disease. After a prolonged battle, the Spaghetti squash has basically succumbed to a combination of Powdery Mildew and something else (possibly gummy stem blight). The Zucchini is pretty well covered in Powdery Mildew as well, though it seems to only be slowing it down rather than killing it off. The tomatoes are having problems with late blight, but the soil planted tomatoes are doing better than the ones in the topsy-turvy. The broccoli and kohlrabi have bad infestations of cabbage aphids. I'm keeping that in check with pyrethrin spray now, and the plants seem to be doing ok.

Despite the diseases, we have been getting some produce. Cherry tomatoes and paste tomatoes have been harvested. A couple of green bell peppers have been harvested. None of the peppers have turned the orange that they are supposed to, even though one started to rot on the plant. Sporadic Zucchinis, or course. We ate a couple of moderate sized spaghetti squashes. There are another 13 squashes of varying sizes and ripeness laying all around the garden; hopefully the unripe ones will still ripen even though the plant is basically dead. We've also eaten a few Kohlrabis. Basically, they are Broccoli stems, maybe with a slightly more cabbagy flavor. In case you haven't seen on, below is a picture of one. The picture is not from my garden (I told you this was a lazy blog post).

Not so sure I'd grow kohlrabi again. I think I'd rather have cauliflower or more broccoli or something.

There is still a good amount of stuff growing in the garden. We'll probably get tomatoes, peppers (green apparently), and Zucchini for the next month or so. Some of the spring planted broccoli looks like its just now starting to think about growing heads. I think they must have gone semi-dormant over the summer. Brussells sprouts have been transplanted, and I've also recently planted fall crops of Lettuce, Pak Choi, Arugula, and Green Onions (from bulb sets). Most of the potatoes are still in the ground, too. We have more than enough potatoes, and I'm hoping they'll keep well in the dirt till fall.