Garden Update (Part 2)

 So, like I said in Part 1, there is a happy ending (though it's not really the end of the garden this year yet) to all the garden drama. Most of my plants have made a comeback - even the lettuce and I have been able to get plenty of good produce from most of the plants. I don't think I can really consider it organic anymore, but at least it's kind of close.

If you read some of my early garden posts, you know that I was having some trouble with some of my plants. For some reason that have not been able to figure out, my cucumber stems split from the ground all the way up and all died but one. It was a sad, pathetic looking little thing and I was fully expecting it to die as well. To my surprise, it survived and during the really hot spell last month, it took off and really began to thrive.

 We went from this (7/9)

 To this (7/29)

 To this (8/8)

To this (8/25)

 To this (8/31)

To this today! (9/3) It's eaten up now, but it was about 8 inches long and about 2 inches in diameter. It was so good! I am also thrilled that there are at least 3 more coming. Yeah, it's not much, but considering I thought they were all lost, this is a big deal for me! 

Then there was my zucchini. It also looked pretty sad at first but it also started to take off during the August hot spell. 

 We went from sad & spindly to...

 thriving...

to producing...

to yummy!

As of tonight, I have 5 or 6 more coming. I am looking forward to having zucchini in my freezer for breads, brownies & casseroles through the coming months.

The rest of the garden is looking pretty good too.

I have 5 or 6 baby watermelons. I hope at least one gets big enough to eat before the weather turns.

 The snap peas are just about finished for the year but they sure have been a yummy treat all summer long.

 I have at least one more meal coming from the green & purple beans.

It looks like we will be getting another pepper. These are supposed to be a variety of colors so I am looking forward to seeing if this one is something other than green.

 

 And check out the flowers on my purple potato plants. I never knew potato flowers were so pretty. I have 4 purple & 9 white potato plants. I can't wait to pull some of these out of the ground!

After picking through all my lettuce and pulling off & discarding the outer painted leaves, it recovered and is now producing lots of healthy paint-free leaves. All but 4 of my broccoli plants were destroyed by the nefarious stray cat and they are looking pretty iffy. I was considering pulling some of the less successful plants and planting a fall garden, but after all the drama, I honestly don't have it in me this year. I plan to regroup and refresh my spirit over the winter and give my all to a new garden in the spring. Until then, I will enjoy the harvest (though small) the earth has given us this season. I have learned many lessons in this process and will be that much wiser for next year's garden.