Somehow a month has passed, so it’s time for my monthly organic vegetable garden update.
Organic Garden Early August Highlights
It continues to be an incredibly rainy summer. My vegetables would like more sun, I’m sure, but they seem to be happy enough. The cucumbers in particular, with their high water content, are growing very well. I have three different types: “kirbys” perfect for making pickles, the lemon cucumbers (above), and marketmore 76 cucumbers (below). They are all producing well and they are delicious.
There has been a lot of concern in my area, as well as all over the Northeast and beyond, about a fungal disease called “late blight”. A strain of this fungus caused the Irish potato famine; it can affect tomatoes as well as potatoes. If you are growing either of these, it’s important to be on the lookout for symptoms of late blight, because if you do have diseased plants, they need to be pulled out, bagged, sealed, and thrown away (not composted!) immediately.
Many farms are apparently losing their tomato crops due to late blight. I feel very fortunate that my plants look fine, and I am keeping my fingers crossed that it stays that way. I have many different types of heirloom tomatoes growing, and I’ll be very upset if anything happens to them!
My scarlet runner beans, pattypan squash, carrots, beets, herbs and various salad and dark leafy greens are all continuing to grow well. I’ll be planting a fall crop of greens soon, too.
We are able to eat out of the garden every day at this point, which is a pleasure. Most of the tomatoes, the peppers, the edamame, the corn and a few other things still need more time, but we’ll be able to eat them soon, too.
