gardening ~ august {transitioning}

Our August was an interesting month with an unusual amount of rain. Usually it's a struggle to keep up with watering the garden from our rain barrels, but this month the weather has helped us out, which is a blessing. It's odd, though. Everything is still mostly green, but it's as if the plants have a longing to be done with growing, as if they know the transition to autumn should be happening and that all this water is somewhat needless. So, it's an intersting dichotomy out there.

The harvest of cucumbers, roma tomatoes, squash and potatoes has significantly increased. Most of the carrots and about half of the potatoes are still in the ground. I replanted more kale and swiss chard, which have already germinated, because an autumn harvest of those greens will be most welcome!

I have been (mostly) faithful to hold back egg shells and coffee grounds after used to add to the soil, and we frequently feed the chickens greens from the garden (of which we have abundance) and vegetables that for some reason have spoiled or we won't eat (usually tomatoes and overgrown cucumbers). It's nice to have these habit of reusing and recycling. We aren't obsessive about it, because who has time for that (!), but good habits go a long way, and these tasks aren't arduous but easy to add to daily life.

I'm hoping to top 300 pounds of total harvest this year, which is a whopping 200 pounds less than the past two years! The total this year will be significantly less due to not planting as many tomatoes coupled with the fact that the 32 plants growing did not yield as many fruit as in year's past. This means I will not have a freezer full of my own tomatoes for the winter, which now that we are accustomed to such a standard (of taste and ease) will definitely be missed! However, the large crop of snow peas, green beans, strawberries, cucumbers and beets has provided freezer storage, and I expect the same from my carrot harvest. If there is anything that is consistent about gardening it's that no two year's harvest will be alike. 

2019 Produce Totals ~  253 pounds  8 ounces
Strawberries ~ 72 pounds
Kale, Spinach, Swiss Chard ~ 7 pounds
Snow Peas ~ 10 pounds
Green Beans ~ 21 pounds
Beets ~ 7 pounds
Cucumbers ~ 26 pounds
Cherry Tomatoes ~ 5 pounds
Sweet Peppeters ~ 2 pounds
Garlic ~ 1 pound 5 ounces
Roma Tomatoes ~ 46 pounds
Beef Steak Tomatoes ~ 8 pounds
Onions ~ 3 pounds
Blackberries ~ 3 ounces
Carrots ~ 2 pounds
Squash ~ 8 pounds
Potatoes ~ 35 pounds