Mid-October Gardening (and life) Report

It seems odd to be writing a gardening post this time of year. We usually get a light frost early in September, followed by a week or two of nights in the upper 30s or lower 40s. Then the nighttime temperatures dip into the lower 30s, causing us to cover our sensitive crops with tarps every evening and uncover them every morning. By the last week of the month, I am usually quite tired of that routine so I just harvest everything and get it over with.

This year we have not yet had even a light frost! I never did cover anything up in the garden, and I still have cucumbers, zucchini, and yellow squash producing fruits. The tomatoes would also be doing just fine if I had left them out there.

This was a great year for tomatoes. I wanted to make plenty of salsa, spaghetti sauce, and even ketchup, and I certainly had enough to do all of that. However, I don't have the time or the energy. My husband has needed extra care since his foot injury, and we are getting new flooring installed, so I've been quite preoccupied with coordinating the moving of furniture, removal of old carpet, and installation of the new flooring.

So I called a neighbor who lost many tomatoes to sneaky deer, and she was happy to come over and help harvest in exchange for plenty of tomatoes. It took us about an hour and a half to pick all the tomatoes. I was so grateful to have her help! It looked like an overwhelming task to do alone, and besides, we got to chat while working.

The photo shows the tomatoes I kept, which is maybe 1/3 of the crop we picked. I gave her all the rest. I've been freezing these whole as they ripen, hoping I have the energy to so some canning in November.

Yesterday I did a great deal of garden clean-up. I hauled the cornstalks to the burn pile, as well as a heap of weeds and one squash plant. I finished pruning the older raspberry patch and cut back the rhubarb. I don't usually do the latter, but its leaves became severely discolored in the summer. I don't know if it developed a disease, or if the ground squirrels disturbed its roots too badly. Regardless, I didn't want to leave that mess there all winter. In the above photo, you can see the zinnias and the gladiolus still need to be dug up some day.

And I dug up the strawberry plants. They are supposedly Everbearing, but they never do anything until August and by then I am too busy to deal with them on top of everything else that ripens in August. I plan to replace them with June Bearing plants in the spring.

Looking the opposite direction in the garden, you can see the new row of raspberry plants next to the fence. It needs to be staked up. Also one hill of slicing cucumbers, the zucchini, and the yellow summer squash remain to be pulled up after the first frost. Until then, I will continue to harvest what I can, and enjoy the truly fresh produce as long as possible.

All photos taken on my Android phone.