August 2008 in my Vegetable Garden

I had trouble limiting the number of pics for this post, so will not be enlarging them.  They will enlarge if clicked on.

The first 4 pics are from August 4th. This area is just inside the entrance, and it shows my funky hose guides protecting the Freecycle marigolds.

I can't remember what kind of cucumber this was.  It's to the other side of the entrance, on the other side of the 4' O Clocks and other flowers.

The tomatoes were starting to ripen. The squirrels got my first ripe one, though.  Can you see the Monarch Butterfly near the swamp milkweed?

The next 5 pics were taken August 13. Here's a volunteer Cleome prettying up an area that's not so pretty. This one did not get as big as the one in the front in more sun.  (This is the north side of the garage.)

I didn't mention this before, but I have had trouble the last few years growing cucumbers because they get diseased from something given to them by cucumber beetles, and die after getting a small harvest.  If anyone has any organic solution to this, I may try it.  I'm thinking I've heard of one before, but can't remember.

The sunflowers were blooming, and the larkspur and holly hocks were finished. The tomatoes were ripening on the bush to the right. These were a smaller, heirloom kind, but I can't remember the name. They tasted good.

When I first started digging in the garden after we moved in, a neighbor guy came over and told me I wouldn't be able to grow tomatoes, because of the disease in the soil.  They do get diseased and die, also, but I get a better harvest than the cucumbers before they die.  I try to take off the bottom and diseased leaves, but don't always keep up.  The globe thistle on the right was blooming now.

The zucchini was blooming here. I decided not to put the pic of the one that had a zucchini on it, around the 21st.

I must not have gotten pics of the dill that was growing.  Here it is, after having gone to seed. I have dill in the herb garden as well as the veggie garden.  I dried lots, and have been using it. There were a lot of Painted Lady butterflies this year, and they loved the verbena that seeds itself all over.  This was the summer I paid more attention to the butterflies and learned a lot of the names, but I'll need to get my books back out to remember what some of them were. This was taken August 15.

I enjoyed taking pics of bees, and other critters, too.  I am excited for this summer and using my new camera.  August 17:

When onions have formed skin, it's best to avoid watering them.  I've mentioned they can be picked at any time for use raw or cooked.  I also chopped a bunch, and froze them on a cookie sheet, then put them in freezer bags.  I just ran out of them a couple weeks ago. If you have the kind for keeping, they should stay in the ground until the stems are dry all the way to the onion. I put these and the garlic I harvested, which are shown on the right, in my basement to store.  I would bring a few up to the kitchen at a time.  The onions were used up by the end of December, and I still have some garlic.  Some of it has dried up, and I need to be using the rest of it soon. This was taken August 20.

The Black Eyed Susan and Lemon Balm volunteered to grace the entrance to the garden, and shared space with the cucumber that grew through the fence. This and the next pic were taken August 21.

I'm not sure if I found out what kind of caterpillars these were.  I got lots of comfort and hand holding through letting the caterpillars eat some of the leaves of my plants. I was assured they would not kill the plants.

The next 3 were taken August 28.  Here's my lovely kale and peppers. I left lots of room between plants after the lettuce, potatoes, and the like were harvested so I could apply compost.

The rest of the pics were taken August 31. The zucchini was still alive. I usually lost them to the worm that gets into the stem.  I kept putting dirt over the stem, and that seemed to help.  The hollyhock is bushy, and stemless, because I had cut the stalks down. I put them in a pile next to the compost pile, because I didn't want the seeds in the pile.  

That's the dill and verbena bon. to the left of the zucchini.

Peppers, tomatoes, etc.

The sweet potatoes were still growing here. The rose in the tub had been in the ground, but I didn't like where it was, and don't know how to prune it properly, so I put it there a couple years ago. That's the entrance to the garden next to the rose. I think I'll move that next year, as it reached out and grabbed me a few times last year.

My husband said we start Daylight Savings this weekend.  Spring has to be around the corner!