The last few days have been a flurry of activity. Tom and I spent the weekend processing all the produce our garden had churned out while we were gone. I had told all our neighbors to feel free to come in and pick what they liked, but there was still plenty to put up. We made six quarts of crushed tomatoes, five pints of salsa using our tomatoes and jalepenos and garlic, five pints of bread 'n butter pickles, four pints of tomato sauce for the freezer, and two pints of roasted red bell peppers for the freezer. Oh, and started the annual supply of dried pepper flakes by drying the hot peppers that were ripe. We re-tied all the 49 tomato plants up, cleaned up the bottoms by trimming off old and spent foliage, and fertilized them with Maxsea. (I'm not going to do the Florida weave method next year, more on that later. We've had issues with some of these huge heirlooms we're growing - they collapse under the weight.) Today I managed to pot up all the seeds I started in early July: Broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, kohlrabi, salvia, and sunflowers. It's been a busy time.
Here is your August printable. I would add that it might be time to order your garlic your shallots or onions for your fall planting, now. I don't generally plant until November, but sometimes seed houses run out, so it's good to check your favorite places and get the scoop. I plan to do Inchelium Red garlic again, from Baker Creek, and French Grey shallots, from Renee's Garden. Neither one is ready to ship yet, but I'll keep checking back. We want to make sure we get that order in before they run out.
I sowed more pumpkin seeds today, as the Kobocha squash I planted is growing very slowly. So I added these seeds in the hope that we'd get SOME sort of winter squash. I am also still continually sowing basil, cilantro, and dill seed. My flowers are not germinating as well as they have in other years - I am going to need to fill in with bought starts sometime this month, if I want to have bloom through the fall. I'd like to find a place to start a fall crop of peas, too. More to do!
So, the garden work continues and the summer harvest continues to roll in. Happy planting!