Final corn harvest...

Garden Aug. 21, 2011
Originally uploaded by southsideandy

Here are the last nine ears of corn from my garden...what a great year for the corn. It did so well. I'm thrilled, especially given that I got nothing last year.

I had to cut down my tomato plants because many of the tomatoes had split, and the whole bed was infested with flies. Maybe they'll grow more before the season is over, we'll see. But I'm not hopeful.

I also had to cut back the cucumber plants, because they were trying to grow on the roof of the garage. In the process I found a few really large, really nicely formed cucumbers.

I'm getting some sweet banana peppers, so that's good. But the red and orange bells are still not really producing. Ah well, you win some and lose some, I guess.

Lastly, I've got a boatload of carrots that I'll need to start harvesting -- good thing I like carrots...hopefully Nicky does too, as I'm probably going to process some of them into baby food. :)

And there's more where that came from ...

success with corn!.jpg
Originally uploaded by southsideandy

Having had no success last year with the corn stalks I planted, I wasn't sure when, exactly, I was supposed to pick my corn this year, which is doing really, really well -- many ears, growing nicely, on many stalks.

So Friday, I decided to pick the biggest one and cross my fingers...and this picture is what I got -- AWESOME! A little dry at the top, but I cut that part off and had a nice-sized cob.

So, our block party was Saturday, and I decided to pick more and serve them up...it was delicious and awesome! There are quite a few ears left on the stalks, so I'm really psyched about it. Obviously.

In other garden news, I picked about 16 cucumbers last week too...now the plants, which are growing like mad (trying to bridge the gap between the arbor and the garage, to grow up on the garage roof), are in "rebuilding" mode, growing a few smaller cukes, but it will be awhile before they're ready.

I'm losing my Big Boy tomato plant (it's dying back, drying out, and I'm not sure why), but it's producing nice tomatoes on its way out, so I'm OK with that. The cherry tomato plants are producing as expected, but the problem has been tomatoes splitting while they're orange (rather than red), which just becomes waste. Nonetheless, the two plants are producing really well, and A.J. of course loves going back there and picking the tomatoes.

The onions were a little more of a success this year than last -- got a few decent-sized ones, and a bunch are still in the ground.

Carrots are still growing. I've harvested a few, but am waiting on the rest for now.

And, sadly, the three pepper plants I bought have been tremendously disappointing from a fruit production standpoint. I've gotten ONE pepper off all three, even though they're growing quickly and large. I haven't even had flower production much, to be honest. Maybe it's been the rain or humidity or both, but I thought the heat would really bring out the peppers...so far, no such luck.

Lastly, the strawberry plants I put in the planters are growing like mad as well...with a few strawberries here and there for the picking. If they survive the winter in the containers, we should have a bonanza of strawberries next year, I suspect.