The Ups and Downs of August – Garden Update

August has been a pretty emotional month in the garden.  First, there was lots of hot, sunny days; then, unexpectedly, the temperatures dove and to accompany the shock, the rains came and stayed for about 5 or so days.  When the rains finally stopped, the clouds blocked the sun and the weather stayed cool – day and night.

Blooms fell off the sweet peppers, tomatoes stayed green, and I was sure the sweet potato had either drowned or rotted.  I scoured books and online sites concerning temperature and water requirements/dangers for the plants and buds, scanned the sky for signs of the sun and haunted weather sites for information about when the rains would cease and the sun would come back out, and drove myself nearly insane with the decision of whether to harvest the sweet potatoes or not.  I’d reconciled that we’d harvest no sweet peppers this year.  Yes, it was THAT cold – I was convinced fall had already come.

Then I came across information about the seasons that calmed me down a bit.  I learned a bit about the Equinoxes and Solstices and realized, I’ve got until mid-September before I really need to worry.  I’ll explain more about what I learned in the next post, but suffice it to say, there’s still time.  And then magically, the sun came out…and stayed!  Blooms stopped dropping off and fruit ripened! Yay, August!

Here’s a visual of the last month or so of angst! 🙂  I can smile now, lol.

Heavy rains broke a branch of the German Gold.

I’d read that tomato branches will root if planted; thought why not try?

A month later and it’s still alive. (Left foreground)

The original plant has also put out some fruit. (Finger to show scale)

Actually, quite a bit of fruit – all still green at mid-month mark.

Late August, the sun came out, and the German Gold showed it’s true colors.

And now more of them are ripening!

The Jani tomatoes are also joining in the fun.

It’s been work keeping up with the quick growing cocktail tomatoes and I’m still waiting for a few ripe Green Zebras.

If they all ripen up, this’ll be my second batch of hot peppers (which are earmarked for friends).

My lone Kosovo paprika for the season.

I’d meant to show the buds where the blossoms had dropped off and behold, budding fruit!

Jalepenos changing color! So exciting!

This is where I think I made a big mistake; planting the paprika too close to the tomatoes – no sun! Blooms form and drop. 😦

These fruit have been hanging here from July; are they going to change color or what?!

Using the tomato shade to get a jump on fall salads – I planted Rucola.

And a salad that I was introduced to when I moved to Austria – Vogerlsalat.

Here’s a more advanced view – it’s still a juvenile though..

All of the summer salad went to seed and had to be pulled (except for two). Spinach is coming into it’s own.

Not to worry, I’ve already started new Romaine and Spinach for fall.

These things grow fast, don’t they?! It’s only been a month.

Got some Garden Cress going too. Hubby loves it in salads and sandwiches.

Sweet Boy (aka, the sweet potato) is still here hanging out. The 100 days are over, but Fall Equinox is still 22 days away and I want a nice hot day when I take them out.

Learned from my Filipino neighbors that the green leaves are also edible. Saute them in garlic and oil, just like you would spinach; sounds interesting.

During the week of rain, I moved Sweet Boy to the patio and this is what grass minus sun looks like.

Rhubarb is there growing and shedding leaves; just settling in.

I’m going to have to set aside a day to harvest and dry herbs for the winter soon.

Talking about woody herbs, the Spanish lavender has grown back quite nicely from it’s summer trim. Flowers for fall would be awesome!

Talking about flowers, the sunflowers are almost as tall as me – well the youngest is (on the left).

Check out how huge that vine my neighbor planted next to our wall grew. They’re practically hiding my Tagetes.

And threatening my Aloe plants too!

I think it might be a true Morning Glory; a new one opens every morning and dies in the evening. Totally worth sweeping them up from the patio.