Our short growing season

13 years ago

While I love where we live, it can be hard on the vegetable garden. My tomatoes and beans froze last night. They look like I haven't watered them in a month...and of course, the tomatoes were still all green.

The good news...now I can plant my clematis. I've had these in pots on the porch for the last three weeks. I want to put clematis all around the arbor in the kitchen garden, but the tomatoes had taken over the space.

The kitchen garden must be a little colder, since it's further away from the house. All the cosmos and petunias in the front yard and the fairy garden are still blooming and beautiful...at least for now :)

Usually, once we get a few light frosts, it warms up and we have a beautiful September, so lots to do in the garden this month. If I can get all my perennials planted (more pots on the porch) I'll be thrilled! LOL

Comments (9)

soxxxx
13 years ago
My tomatoes look that way too, not from cold, but from heat after weeks of 100+ degrees. So I really had a short growing season too.

I also can say
looks like I haven't watered them in a month
midnightsmum (Z4, ON)
13 years ago
Oh LL - that's too bad. Here, we are in another heat wave!! I do have old bed sheets at the ready, but I don't usually anticipate frost till the end of September. I am just starting to get tomatoes - I'd be devastated!! Enjoy your Indian Summer!! Maybe the frost filled the bugs??

Nancy
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scully931
13 years ago
Wow, I never really thought of anyone in the lower 48 having a frost at the end of August/beginning of Sept. I wrote in my gardening journal last year that the first frost was Oct. 18.

Yes, at least plants can get moved around. I'm itching to redo some of my gardents, but it was 95 today. Still... not wishing for colder weather.
lavender_lass
Original Author
13 years ago
Soxxxx- How awful to have so much high heat all summer. Your poor tomatoes. I don't really expect to get too many, but you probably get a lot of tomatoes most years. Hopefully, next summer will be better weather.

Nancy- Another heat wave? Sounds like you should get some beautiful tomatoes this year.

Scully- We have really late spring and early fall frosts. My mom lives a mile and a half away and has a month longer growing season! It's really strange, but I guess it's a combination of being in a little valley and having the creek behind the house. At least I can go get some tomatoes from my mom :)
aftermidnight Zone7b B.C. Canada
13 years ago
Ha, last year we were eating tomatoes in July, I picked my first ripe tomato (Cherokee Purple) yesterday. I can't say our growing season is that short but this year has been the weirdest one I've ever experienced and I've been around for a long time.

Annette
xantippe
13 years ago
Oh, Lavender. That's too soon! Here we are in Oregon with unripe tomatoes, and first frost seems so far away. I think ours was in December last year.

But, if it's any consolation, having first frost so late can be hard, too. Last year, we all lost a lot of perennials; the sudden change from a lovely, temperate to frigid temperatures was too much for the poor things.
Lilyfinch z9a Murrieta Ca
13 years ago
I feel like its really winding down here too, tho frost is a while away! I fed my roses for the last time this year today. Made me sad! I see some buds forming for their final show. I have alot of moving around to do as well. I have one section of garden i need to spruce up, after july nothing seems to be blooming there.
I was thinking how much ill do next year..like getting more mushroom manure and spreading it around, feeding my plants on a schedule instead of when i remember, mulching more. This year i worked so much i didnt have time to garden. I hope next year is a little more enjoyment !

ll, have you begun thinking about what youd like to do next year? I know it seems soon but its hard to plan when its snowing out!
lavender_lass
Original Author
13 years ago
Annette- It has been a very strange summer. We got a lot of rain and cool weather in June (which is unusual for us) so it was more like two months of summer weather.

Xantippe- That's so sad about your perennials. I hope the weather is a little more predicatable this year. Did you lose a lot of plants?

Lilyfinch- It is sad to see summer winding down, but also nice to look forward to the leaves turning color and the fair...we have a very cute county fair, here. The kind that's small enough you can take the kids and let them run around and all the food is provided by schools and charities to raise money. I think what shocks people the most is that the admission is free! People tease us that our fair is like going back to the '50s. LOL

As for planning for next year, it's funny you should ask. I've been doing that for the last few weeks and I'm making some changes to the kitchen garden and starting a new vegetable garden. The vegetable garden will be more for kids 10 and over (and me, of course) but I'm planning some fun things to do, as well as veggies to grow :)
xantippe
13 years ago
Lavender Lass, we did okay--just lost a few lavenders (which was pretty sad), and a hebe and a New Zealand flax, but my friends lost much more. But this has been the best summer yet, even though it was short. I cannot get over how much my plants have grown. All that spring rain did them a world of good. My garden is four years old, but suddenly it looks about ten. Lovely!