I am also harvesting, and cutting back/removing anything that is dead/dying.
I've had to remove two tomato plants, and there are two more to go. Not a surprise here....BLack Krim only last so long in my garden. I push them hard to get a good first crop and get those ripe...then I rip them out.
I only stopped planting last week...Finally finished amending the new potager area...I should have great late pepper crops. Also cutting flowers. Yesterday a friend came to cut for a wedding, next week I have 18 small arrangements to make, so much more cutting. Mostly it's zinnias so I have to spray them for mildew weekly now...it is so hot and humid for them!
Since my growing season is or has been (we'll see what this winter brings?) 12 months a year, I am starting to think of seeding out for fall and ordering anything I need before I can't get the seeds anymore for this year. Gearing up to do some fence painting which must be done in early mornings here.

I've been getting squash for a couple of weeks now, but due to Junuary here in the bay area (CA)everything is running about a month late. Just got my first (of many) tomatoes, cukes, beans later this week. Just finishing up on the artichokes and still get an occasional asparagus(which I eat in the garden)
I'm pulling nasturtium out of the herb garden like a weed so it doesn't take us over! The neighbor's goats love them =)

Oh Nancy, that's good to hear. We're down in SD and I'm a month late (so I've been praying the weather would be too!!).

We have tomatoes just putting off fruit, zucchini just starting to flower, lots of herbs, lemon grass is loving the late cool weather... Rhubarb has enough stalks that I might be able to harvest some this year. Tiny peppers on the pepper plants. Flowers on the eggplant.

(told you I'm running late!!!)

I have some pretty yellow bean seeds I'm going to plant next week. And some beets. and some carrots. and... whatever else I can get my hands on. The weather is so strange here right now (it should be a lot hotter, but we've only broke 95 once) and most days are 80 and perfect. I'm going for broke and just planting. I don't think we'll get frost until January, just like last year.

Sweating!

Silver, I think it was 2 or 3 years ago we had tomatoes into late December! Not very good, but we HAD them! LOL NT

Composting (not all in the potager, though):
cold compost in plastic earth machines in potager & backyard tucked behind a garden next to a duck pen, long mound of grass hay bedding & goat manure, sheet composting on the access paths behind mixed borders along the side of the house (as I cut back spent blooms), an area in the backyard in dry shade for groundcovers to be planted in fall.

Harvesting:
herbs (for meals, vases, & drying), lettuces, cabbages, radish pods (spicy & crunchy like peas crossed with radishes) kale, broccoli, raspberries, strawberries, flowers (calendula, pansy, chives)

Planting:
more lettuces, more potatoes, peas, winter veggies: more chard, cabbage, beets, carrots, etc. Possibly sowing cilantro, but I'm the only one who likes it besides our married daughter. Then thinking about sowing bush beans as a cover crop in the spaces I don't fill up. If we have an Indian summer in fall & they mature enough to harvest beans I'll count that a bonus.

Wish I was harvesting the warm weather crops, but it's been a cool spring & summer until recently. I see blooming & starts of fruits, but none to harvest yet of tomato, zucchini, cucumber, & peppers (unless you can count the plant I bought with peppers already on it).

Trying to sit in the gardens a little each day to just enjoy & observe. It's been rather entertaining to watch the hummingbirds zoom from plant to plant & garden to garden in the front yard & driveway as well as the backyard. They don't seem to like anything in the potager, but the bees do. The hummers favorites are the various plantings of Crocosmia and bee balm right now. Wishing I could catch a hummingbird in a photo! Taking a few garden pics lately especially of the big daylily blooms because they're gone the next day.

I'm also enjoying the sound of my hubby's fountains & dappled shade from the tall trees on the patio or back deck in the quiet as well as watching the small birds use the concrete birdbath in the backyard. Some of the young birds come in pairs & bathe together. The older birds alternate.

My last main bed is lined with rocks and is almost completely dug out. I will probably stop at 18 inches deep.

Dh has offered to add an extension to the potager because I have 4 beds that have manure that was contaminated with herbicide that will need to be remediated. I really, really want the extension but he has plenty of other things to do and he has grown rather tired of gathering rocks. Also, putting an extension means it will take that much longer until the fence is up and for the first time in 4 years, the deer have come to our place with a vengance.

Now I am drying garlic (it did much better for me this year), harvesting some onions, and lots of round zucchini and herbs. I also discovered that Hungarian sweet peppers do really well here. I am not sure about regular bells as the deer pruned them.I bought a 6 pack of fennel for $1 and that is doing fantastic and I have harvested some broccoli as well.

Overall, this year is better than last (except for the tomatoes) and I have continued to learn more. I am turning the compost more now in the hopes of getting more ready by fall and I will be planting some fall stuff soon (spinach, peas, carrots, greens, etc.).

It's so interesting to see how different gardening is from region to region. I can only dream of lettuce right now! I am out in the garden by 6:00 a.m. every morning and come back in soaking wet with sweat before 9:00. Thank goodness for air conditioning!

All of my first crops are done except for three tomato plants I am trying to baby along till cooler weather in the fall. This has been a banner cucumber year and my friends are running the other way when they see me! :) I am making batches of pickles every couple of days until I run out of jars.

I planted more cowpeas this week and have pole beans up about 3 inches high. All these will be harvested come fall.

I was so sad to pull up my Cornell bush delicata squash this week. They were beautiful, truly COMPACT plants just setting nice fruit when the Squash Vine Borers hit. What was I thinking? My late yellow crooknecks were clean, so I built a row cover tent over them. Keeping my fingers crossed that there were no SVBs I missed. Will definitely try the Delicatas again next year.

I have collards and broccoli plants started from seed doing nicely in dappled shade. It amazes me that they will grow in triple digits. I guess it's because they are babies determined to live. Three more weeks and I will start pansy seeds and onion seeds.

The Moulin Rouge Sunflowers began to bloom this week behind my garden bench and the Zinnia Zowie Flames look gorgeous at their feet. This is definitely a combo I will remember!

Stay cool everyone! Thank goodness for Air Conditioning!

I've been picking handfuls of beans, a few cukes, baskets of zukes (from only 3 plants), some peppers and waiting, waiting for my tomatoes to ripen. I know I had tomatoes this time last year. I'm getting very impatient!

It's time to pull the beans and replant maybe with some chard or lettuce. Lettuce was a big bust for me this year. It grew in so bitter. Any tips?

I'm also pruning and staking lots of floppy herbs and trimming the bottom leaves off the 'maters. I think they have a touch of early blight. I'm going to do a neem oil spray as soon as I post this.

All of the veges are just now starting to come in. We had a Junuary, so we are about a month behind schedule.
Zuks, artichokes and green and yellow beans are going nuts.
Tomatoes, peppers, cukes and eggplant are just almost ready to go.
Starting some winter stuff, lettuce, broccoli, carrots. Chard is up and growing fast.
Cut back the celery and hoping for new growth.
I need to soak the area where my iris bed is so I can pull and divide them SOON!
I also have to plan new beds to extend the garden for next year. We only have a very short time fall and spring when we can actually dig in our clay soil! The rest of the time it's either muddy muck or cement!

We had such a cool spring and wet June...the tomatoes are still flowering, with a few small fruits. Even the cherry tomatoes! The pole beans are climbing and sending out flowers, but not beans yet. The peas rotted this spring, so I planted some more last week. They should do well, as it cools off in September.

The prettiest part of the potager is the bed with the purple raspberries. To keep the deer from chewing on them (again) I planted bee balm between them, with catmint on the ends. The bee balm turned out to be several different colors and the hummingbirds are loving them! They even perch on the top of the arches, since the metal grid is small enough, they can grab it with their little feet.

I'll try to take a picture this weekend, but my camera may not be good enough to get a decent shot of the hummingbirds. They are such little cuties :)

It has been super hot and dry here in Northeast Arkansas. With generous use of a sprinkler, my plants have handled it pretty well. My bell peppers exceeded my expectations, also have eggplant, peppers(Serrano) and cherry tomatoes.Lots of basil(Thai) and thyme. The basil is so plentiful, I regularly supply the local Thai restaurant. This is my first year with this potager and I think I can do better next year as the my compost(mostly coffee grounds so far) supply grows.
corrine1, how do you post pictures in the message without having to provide a link to an picture hosting site? Nice garden btw.

Hi everyone,

As Donnabaskets said, it is really cool to hear what everyone is doing in their garden and what's going on for them, in all different locations.

Today near the Massachusetts coast it is beautiful but in the last week we have had buckets of rain, so much that I was worried about losing our plants. Thankfully they are alright.

We are getting beans every day, Kentucky Blue variety (a hybrid of Kentucky Wonder and Blue Lake). They are wonderful, great flavor. I planted an heirloom green bean (Ideal Market) a bit later and am waiting for an explosion of those, there are so many vines and flowers. I wanted to try comparing the hybrid and heirloom varieties.

Planted a container full of the heirloom Paris Market carrots (little and round, supposedly sweet) but the rain pretty much wrecked that planting! I will try again! My tennis ball lettuces are struggling to survive.

Tomatoes are finally coming along, not as many as in past years so far, but good nonetheless.

I put 3 butternut squash plants in the potager for the first time this year just out of curiosity and WOW! If they all ripen we will have enough for Thanksgiving for the entire town! I was hoping for a couple maybe. They are sprawled all over the back yard with tons of squash. (Luckily we love butternut squash and it is good for you!)

The zucchini and summer squash, cukes and peppers are still producing. Still waiting on the eggplant.

I have decided (I wonder if anyone else has?) that after this year I won't bother with lettuce. Here the weather can be so fickle, and I don't attend to it well either. I do better with larger plants that don't require thinning!

We also have had hummingbirds visiting, especially at the bee balm. Also lots of butterflies this year (a black swallowtail, which we have never seen before!) We have a bunny family but so far only one zucchini casualty. Lots of birds at the birdbath (orioles for the first time).

I picked up a "grow potatoes in a container" and transplanted it. I got about 7 potatoes the size of a kiwi fruit. Obviously not worth it. I will plant some in the ground next year though. I guess someone is always counting on there being a naive, hopeful gardener out there! :)

Thanks everybody for filling us in on what's happening in your potager - and keep writing! Happy August, and best wishes for baskets full of produce!

MacGregor

It has been a difficult year here. The constant heat means that even if it rains, it is just not enough rain. We have had some good rains though, but after all that heat and earlier very dry weather the disease is running through everything. I spray and spray the zinnias and it's about no use. The tomatoes are being eaten up with diseases too. Lets hope the late planted tomatoes are healthy and that cooler weather moves in soon!
LOADS of insects here too. There is a vacant lot and a city drainage area across the street from me. They get kudzu laden and the lot grows 5-6' tall and harbors all manner of insects because it never gets a final cut back in fall either. This has become severely detrimental to my garden. It is beginning to get quite frustrating, however I'm still quite high on the harvest numbers this year (so I shouldn't complain :)

I'm pretty much just sitting back waiting for fall. Pulled most of the tomato plants in July, but kept a few. The lone Sun Gold is starting to produce again. Should have enough for a tomato entree tomorrow night.

The two serrano plants have provided an abundance of red peppers this year. I chopped and froze quite a few and use them in just about everything I cook. Made jalapeno popper dip yesterday subbing serranos. It was really good!

My basil has just about played out. I only have a couple plants still producing, so seeded more last week.

Seeing brief glimpses of the transition from summer to late summer/early fall with a few things in bloom ... garlic chives, moonflower vine, and the first buds on the Red Rocket (Russelia sarmentosa).

It's almost September we still have beans coming along, and late eggplants and peppers (because I planted them so late!) The heirloom "Ideal Market" beans have a zillion flowers but the beans are really slow to mature, can't figure that out. (Suggestions anyone?) The cukes are about done, as are the summer squash, just one here and there.

Our butternut squash are growing like gangbusters! I planted 3 plants on a whim and they are the most prolific thing in the garden! We love it so that's good...just hope I can store it properly when the time comes.

Tomatoes are still producing, have made some marinara. Hope to make some Annies salsa with the jalapenos we've grown.

The bee balm in the garden grew quite a bit and for the first time we have had hummingbirds as regular visitors-wonderful! Also many butterflies - a black swallowtail one day, which I had never have seen before - so gorgeous.

So many beautiful things can come from a garden...

I am determined to put in some new things before the first frost this year, to provide winter interest and color. I have highbush cranberries, and two boxwood. I'm thinking maybe a winterberry or two. A plant that could be used at Christmastime would be nice.

I also am having to keep an eye on the garden this weekend with the strong possibility of getting some "Hurricane Irene" damage.

Good luck everyone with your end of summer activities -

Hope you fare well with the hurricane Mc.

I have tomatoes (TONS of green ones at least), zucchini, eggplant, beans just starting to grow, tiny watermelons and honeydew, and peppers just starting to produce.

I started LATE.

mac, if you have had lots of high temperatures, your bean blooms are probably falling off without pollination. This is a common problem with all beans. However, keep the vines watered and once the temperatures cool down, they'll start producing again. I always plant a crop of late beans in early August just so they'll start flowering about the time the temperatures cool down some. Last year I was still picking beans on Thanksgiving day.

I am going to try butternut squash next year. Everyone seems to love them and they don't fall prey to Squash Vine Borers. From what I read, you want to leave them on the vine until your fingernail cannot pierce the outer skin. Then pick them and bring them inside for the winter. Google "harvesting winter squash" for more complete info. I did alot of reading when I thought I would have Delicatas. Oh well, we had some of those late yellow squash tonight for supper. They went from seed to the table in just 38 days!

Thanks for the advice on the beans, I will stick with them and keep them watered!

I am concerned about the hurricane, but it seems that here on the north shore in MA we are going to get more of a tropical storm. Even so, today I pulled a painting ladder, a wrought iron bench and patio table over and picked up all the butternut squash vines and their fruit and draped them over the patio items, to keep the squash and vines from rotting should we get deluged upon. It looks pretty odd in our yard, I'll admit, but when you've cared for a garden (as you all well know) you want to save what you can even if it makes your backyard look strange.

Although it would of course bother me to lose the garden to flooding from this storm, I know that if that's the worst thing that happens I am pretty lucky.

I wish all our coastal friends good luck in dealing with this storm. Stay safe!

I wish all of you in Irene's path the very best. Lord willing, if you're not in a flood prone area, the rain will be heavy but will end fairly quickly and will be followed by strong breezes and sunshine. This helps the ground to dry out faster, and gives beautiful weather for picking up all the twigs, branches, and debris that inevitably blow in. :)

Donna, does the fingernail test work on delicatas? I have grown them for the first time this year and I did not see much information on when to harvest other than when they change color. Thanks.

Squash Vine Borers got mine before they matured this year, but yes, that was my understanding from my research.

Hi folks,

Thanks, everyone for your good wishes on our hurricane situation. It could have been much, much worse than it was here. Hurricane Irene did blow over my squash ladder, and also blew over my 7-plant tomato teepee row so that several plants were uprooted, full of tomatoes. Rather than pull them all every which way and risk hurting the plants further just to put them back, I am going to bury the roots as much as possible and hope for the best.

Our son is getting married in three weeks and I am feeling like I need to simplify the garden so plants can keep producing but I don't need to be out there every day. I am going into mother-of-the-groom mode now!

Everyone was really interested in the garden when we had a shower for the bride here, and I even got to explain what a potager is. Fun!

Mac- isn't it fun to show off your garden? I LOVE having visitors! I don't bring them into the house (too dirty! LOL), but straight out to the vege garden!
Nothin better than a pick -n-dunk lunch in the garden!

Well, tropical storm Lee has passed by and this morning when I walked outside at six, I turned right back around and grabbed a jacket! It's suppoed to be down in the low fifties tonight. That is unheard of and a good 10 to 15 degrees below normal for this time of year. Not complainting, though!

I spent the morning tying up tomatoes. Sometime in the night after the heavy rain and wind, my Texas Tomato cages fell over with heavily loaded bushes. There doesn't appear to be any permanent damage though. It also knocked over my heavy wrought iron arbor/bench, which I would never have thought would happen. I guess the wind got under the Purple Hyacinth Bean vines and used it as a parachute. Again, no real harm done.

I was reading over on the Vegetable Forum that parts of Michigan got frost last night. Oh, my. I think I'll stay with the ferocious heat we have here in the summer in payment for summer vegetables until Thanksgiving or so. Will be spending the day tomorrow planting pansy seeds!

Mac- Just went to a wedding at my neighbor's house. Fab gardens!
The bride and groom decided to have their pics taken in the vege garden! Kinda befuddled my neighbor, who has the most beautiful yard(s) ever! LOL Nancy