August Update

Well, August was a time of great successes as well as impending failures. We had more beans than we knew what to do with, a massive amount of squash and cukes (Cyn made some truly amazing pickles with some of our own hot pepper vinegar) and beautiful tomatoes before The Trouble set in. We eked out a decent little crop of onions and leeks, we saw the onset of winter squashes and pumpkins, plus the fattening up of vast amounts of melons.

August brought the Okra Avalanche, with every day requiring us to harvest a basket full of Clemson Spineless and Red Burgundy which nearly overwhelmed. Sadly, August also brought with it bugs. Lots and lots of bugs. And some diseases, like Early Blight and Fusarium Wilt. We'll have a post about the bugs and what we did right/wrong very soon. It was a dry month which presented some challenges with making sure everything got a drink, so we learned about our layout problems and will address those next season.

Overall, we're pleased with how things went, even though there was never enough time to get everything done under the searing mountain sun.

Enjoy the photos Cynthia took of the Veggie Ranch in full action:

Portrait of a Zucchini

One of many Black Widow Spiders in the garden

Moon and Stars melon with blossom

Royal Burgundy bush beans

Cherokee Wax bush beans

A multitude of garden gems

Dragon's Tongue bush beans

One delicious table

Italian Red Onions

Rattlesnake pole beans blooming

Crazy purple-pink corn tassels, pre-insect invasion

Corn bursting like fireworks against the August sky

Golden Crookneck, just before the Great Insect War began in earnest

Edisto 47 melons coming in nicely

Okra blossoms

Pumpkin flower (these are really huge)

Dry Black Turtle Beans

Royal Burgundy with blossom

Dragon's Tongue, with tiny garden spider hitchhiker

Butternut Squash blossoms exploding with bees

One of the multitude of Morning Glory flowers that spread throughout the garden curling around the lima beans