13 Comments
User's avatar
Truman Angell's avatar

Here, I must start the cabbage and clear away the giant mess of tangle squash vines. We got no tomatoes, but it is possible to get a few as cooler days arrive.

Expand full comment
Irina Slav's avatar

Hope you got a good squash harvest. Our late tomatoes are not doing very well but now that it's cooler I hope some blooms bear fruit, they're still young.

Expand full comment
Truman Angell's avatar

We did get many, but the bunnies have learned they taste good and are nibbling the second crop. Stupid bunnies. Hate em!

Expand full comment
Irina Slav's avatar

Bunnies are smart. And a pest for gardeners, alas.

Expand full comment
Marty G Kirkpatrick's avatar

Apparently, my tomatoes were a couple of weeks late, causing them to be ripening at the peak of the very hot summer we had, cracking them from extreme heat, then thunderstorms after.. also bug bites, and cutter worm damage.. bummer. Cucumbers and squash burned up. Cherry tomatoes are doing good, so we had some tomatoes. It seemed strange, as we had some late frosts in late spring, but the cherries, grapes, blackberries, raspberries and apples somehow escaped damage. I enjoy two vines of grapes my mom set out when I was a baby that produced very well along with my Black Cherry tree that had the most cherries it has ever produced since it was set.

Expand full comment
Irina Slav's avatar

Funny thing, our cherry tomatoes were also the best performers this year. Perhaps they are hardier than other sorts? I lost my raspberry to the heat because I was too slow to shade it. Ditto the apple tree we planted in the spring, which we now see was a mistake. I will try again next year, I'm not giving up. Love raspberries, love apples, need some shade-making trees.

Expand full comment
Marty G Kirkpatrick's avatar

My Raspberries grow wild, and the birds get the most of them.. I don't mind the animals and birds raking in the fruit here, as they need to eat and face a tough winter even on warmer, less wintry ones. No one much here has gardens as we are in the process of gentrification from folks from all over who worked in unions in other places, coming to force locals out with money. It saddens me to see how far into regressing our community has become. God Bless you and your family Irina!

Expand full comment
Irina Slav's avatar

You and yours, too, Marty! What you're saying is so sad -- about the place, not the fruit. I'm all for helping birds and animals survive the cold months with some of our produce. I draw the line at lice, though. Just had to clear one bean plant from an infestation and the fight is ongoing for the courgettes.

Expand full comment
Marty G Kirkpatrick's avatar

As for needing shade trees. will White Birch trees grow where you are? They grow fast and provide pretty shade trees if planted maybe ten ft. apart. They do not live over about twenty years here, but do good for quick shade. Just an idea that might help you, if feaseable.

Expand full comment
Irina Slav's avatar

They do grow here, yes, and we like them a lot. Problem is not all nurseries sell them but we'll try to find some. I didn't know they grow fast -- this is exactly what we need. Thanks!

Expand full comment
Marty G Kirkpatrick's avatar

That is good they grow well there.. I set three in a bunch along a 300 ft. very busy road frontage on my property, Within maybe five years, they were 20-30 ft. tall and there was a pretty shade line on my property border. The only downside was they had a very resilient stump after the died that I had to deal with..lol..I had some dug out and finished the rest by drilling holes in them and setting fires with burnt motor oil down inside the stumps, burning the to below ground from the inside. Good luck with finding them there!

Expand full comment
Irina Slav's avatar

Sounds like a lot of work! I'll remember the tip if we need it.

Expand full comment
Nic's avatar

The simple things in life… lovely! 🥰

Expand full comment