I had a moment tonight standing in the garden. Have you ever had one of those dreams where you’re in college and you show up to take a final and realize that you forgot to go to class or study all semester. And just when you really start to panic you wake up and realize that not only is it not true, but you haven’t been in college for almost a decade? I had one of those moments.
I was standing in the garden having a mild panic attack that the cauliflower was all ready at the same time and the last of the broccoli went to bloom before I had a chance to cut it and the bush beans seem to have pretty much quit. The thought that I hadn’t yet gotten the winter broccoli, kale, chard or overwintering carrots in the ground, or even in the seed starting mix, had me panicking that we might starve. I was sincerely berating myself that I hadn’t made the time to keep up with the succession planting.
And then, just like waking up from the bad dream, I looked around and realized that the summer wasn’t over yet. And that the garden has been feeding us for four months and that there is plenty to go.
I remembered that the pole beans are just started to produce, the corn is just tasseling (we have about 12 ears), the peppers are coming along, the Brussels sprouts are just starting to get up a head of steam, there are carrots galore, the potatoes are plentiful, the cucumbers are maturing daily and we’ve finally gotten the first ripe tomatoes (aside from a handful of cherries in July). Not to mention that there are squash multiplying as I type.
Combine that with the fact that I did in fact get the fall peas in, the red cabbage is ready when we are, the onions are drying in mass and I remembered to order garlic seed and I’m really not that behind. We should get a bit of Indian summer this year, so if I get seeds going this weekend I still have a shot at broccoli, kale, chard, radish, lettuce and spinach. I’m even contemplating putting in some more cauliflower and cabbage if I remember to pick up seeds.
The basket above holds just one of the 5 heads of cauliflower I cut tonight. They each weigh in at around 4 pounds, so that means that with 6 of them we harvested almost 24 pounds of cauliflower. Unfortunately I didn’t notice that it was ready until they’d gotten really big and started to yellow a bit. We ate part of one for dinner the other night and it was delicious! The rest are now in a cooler with the last of the broccoli (another 6 pounds or so) waiting for room in the fridge and/or to be blanched and frozen.
The cucumbers are just a fraction of what we’ve gotten so far (about 8 quarts worth). The tomatoes are the first of the Gill’s All Purpose to ripen (the first period, really). The beans are a mix of the last of the bush beans and the first of the pole beans. The eggs are the 5 we got tonight, the onslaught has begun from this spring’s chicks, and yes they are dirty. Oh well. Oh, and that bell pepper? I’m very glad that I didn’t rip the pepper plants out after all. The green bells are just plumping and the chocolate bells are starting to change color. The green ones are weirdly warty and bumpy, but they smell good and assumedly taste fabulous as well. That was the first to get picked in anticipation of salad tomorrow.
All in all, waking up from my anxiety attack and really looking around made me realize that it’s not over yet, there’s still a lot of eating, harvesting and preserving to go before winter. Whew!
*****
Possibly Related posts (newest to oldest):
Beautiful! Our tomatoes are finally coming in, very slowly though with the rain and cool weather we’ve had, and they are getting very blighty
Your cauliflower is gorgeous! I grew it for the first time this year and although mine was not as pretty as yours, it was delicious. Enjoy!
Ali in Maine
Too funny. I have that dream about once a year. Have a final and forgot to go to class- where on earth does that come from !
Your garden is doing beautifully. You must remember to step back once in a while, and savor the moment. There will always be more to do, because gardening does imitate life.
Did you notice a change in the air today? After the clouds left, and the sun came out, my Mom and I both commented that todat felt like Fall for the first time. The angle of the sun is lower, giving off a beautiful yellow light. The crickets were chipping during the day – I don’t know, it just felt different today.
Lexa in Oregon
Gorgeous photo – I love the colors. Sounds like your garden has been splendid and productive.
Thanks ladies. I feel like this post was a bit “hey look what I can grow”, which is what happens when I write really late at night and don’t self edit. Oh well.
Ali – that was our very first tomato of the year. And there aren’t really any other yellow ones so I’m not sure if we’re going to get skunked or not.
Lexa – it does feel like fall. Around here it felt that way most of the week and again this morning.
Nita – thanks!