This past month has been a busy one. My garden is winding down as the sunlight wanes and the temperatures drop. I've been pleased with its production.
I've canned many jars of diced tomatoes and tomato sauce. I didn't make salsa this year. I should have. I made a lot of pesto, froze many containers of peppers, made my own enchilada sauce and tomatillo sauce. I feel 'done'. I have more than enough of everything to last until next summer. However, even though I may feel done with gardening, I'm still not done. I picked 28 lbs of tomatoes today and just gave them away. I also picked 26 lbs of tomatoes this past Saturday and gave those away also. My husband says that next year I should plant only half as much. As much as I enjoy canning and preserving what I grow, I also enjoy giving it away. So I don't see my husband's idea happening.
I grew a 60 lb. winter squash. I have no idea what to do with it all. I'm hoping it will taste good. If it does, I'll share that as well with friends and neighbors.
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| My 60.4 pound Naples Long winter squash. |
My pumpkins did well this year. I will post a picture soon. I've picked several, but there are still some growing in the garden. My biggest pumpkin weighed in at just over 28 pounds. My cucumbers were wonderful. I always feel I need to plant more of those because everyone in the family LOVES them.
Notes for next year:
Grow one more hill of cucumbers
One hill of zucchini is enough.
Grow more than 6 green chilies - try 8 or 10
6 Jalapeno plants are perfect
Don't grow Costoluto Genevese tomatoes:
I thought they were cute, but I preferred the flavor of other varieties.
6 basil plants were plenty
Grow more mini pumpkins
The stink bug problem I had earlier this summer, was taken care of. I made some traps from a Youtube video. They didn't catch many adults bugs, but it did lure and trap tons of babies and adolescents. I also started watering with a sprinkler once a week. Many drowned, so hooray for that. I haven't seen any during the last 5 weeks or so.
