Zone 5b Garden Update For The Week – 9/6/2021
Not mulch going on in the garden this week…except I finally have tomatoes!
This week I have been busy processing the last of my zucchinis from the garden. My zucchini plants were getting exhausted and were trying to fight with powdery mildew. I decided to pull my zucchini plants last week and put in some new seeds of radish, chard, and onions – all things that have a 60-day or less growing period, so they should make it before our first frost!
When I process zucchinis, I turn them into soups, pizza, zoodles, and pesto! Typically I will freeze the soups & some zoodles for winter – there is nothing better than having homegrown zucchini in mid-winter.
My kale production is out of control – I cut my kale back pretty far about 2 weeks ago, and the kale has flourished since! I like making my kale like spinach or any other green, sometimes I will put kale in my salad.
Finally Getting Tomatoes
Orange tomatoes are slowly coming in – I think I’ve picked about 10 orange cherry tomatoes so far – and it’s September! I’m hopeful the first frost will hold off until October and maybe I’ll get some better harvests.
What About That Garlic I Planted In The Garden In April?
At the beginning of the gardening season I planted garlic cloves in the ground, and this week I attempted to find my garlic cloves. My leaves had died back which is a sign that the garlic bulbs should be ready. I carefully dug around and was able to find 3 cloves of garlic. This garlic will go wonderfully with my freshly harvested tomatoes!
I dug a little more and couldn’t find any more garlic cloves or bulbs. I’m going to leave this section of my garden until spring and see if I have garlic then. Speaking of garlic – I ordered my garlic for the fall from Botanical Interests, October is the “time to plant” garlic and it should be in by that time. I also ordered additional garlic from Denver Urban Gardens. Each bulb of garlic I ordered has at least 5 cloves, and the cloves are planted individually and they grow into a full bulb! Can’t wait to get these growing.
Non-Plant Updates From The Garden This Week…
Last week I added a bed skirt to my garden to help protect my radishes and beet greens from bugs. The bed skirt is helping but isn’t stopping the bugs. If I put in extra effort by securing the base to the ground with bricks, it would be better. I believe this bed skirt idea could also be used to provide shade to my tomatoes!
I also added a bicycle basket to the garden last week to help protect my brussel sprout from the brassica moths. The basket seems to be helping, however, I am still getting holes in my brussel sprout leaves. Next year I’ll have to get the basket in ASAP (as soon as I plant) and see if it stops the holes from coming. I can’t remember if my leaves had holes in them previously or not.
Will I Plant Tomatoes Next Year?
I’m already thinking about my garden next year, and I honestly don’t know if I’ll grow tomatoes again. If I do, I will need to ensure I have a way to keep them shaded during the hot summer sun. I have some ideas, but you’ll need to stay tuned next season to see what I come up with!
That’s it for this week – I have to get back to my garden chores!
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