August in the Garden

Our internet is finally back after going out the night of the thunderstorm. Since that time, the zucchinis have gotten out of control, lots of eggplants have emerged, and two varieties of tomatoes have started to ripen.

I'd read zucchini plants were prolific before we started the garden, but I guess I hadn't really grasped just how prolific because I kept 7 of the 11 plants we originally had. Our counter is covered in zucchini, and our freezer full of shredded zucchini. Now I've pulled almost everything, leaving just 2 of the smaller plants. I think that next year I'll start with 4 plants and eventually pull 2. I also want to try varieties other than the traditional green zucchini.
For the last few weeks, though, the garden has been suffering through more than just a glut of zucchinis. Beginning with a melon plant, powdery mildew began to affect the curcubita plants, and I had to pull 1 pumpkin, 1 zucchini plant and 2 melon plants. I wanted to keep them, but neither organic treatments nor fungicides helped, so I had to remove them to stop the fungus' spread. The spread of fungus is something that I will definitely keep in mind when designing the garden next year. I also need to do more research into disease-resistant pumpkin seeds, because I really want a successful pumpkin harvest.

The Sun is Back

The sun has returned to Vancouver, and after all the rain we had last week, there's been a lot of new growth in the garden. Previously, we had some little tomatoes forming, but all of a sudden the plants are covered in flowers and lots of new little tomatoes. It looks like the tomato harvest is going to be good! I've put up pics of a couple of the varieties we have going. The 1st is called Eva Purple Ball, and is a classic round tomato that will eventually be a pink-purple colour. The 2nd is a grape tomato, called Reisentraube, which will turn an orangey-red colour. And finally, the last is called Kellogg's Breakfast, and is a yellow beefsteak. And did I mention how amazing the tomatoes smell? Even the leaves smell great!

The cucumbers are also taking off, so I staked them yesterday to give them more room to grow. As I've discovered by growing them myself, cucumbers are covered in little prickly spikes. You'd never know to see them in the grocery store. I read online that the spikes rub off easily when the cucumbers are being washed. One of the main reasons that I wanted to grow cucumbers was that I wanted to start making my own pickles.

I'm kind of pickle obsessed, and I've found a recipe for garlic dills that sounds just perfect.

I tried my hand at making pickles earlier in the year with pickling

cukes from the Granville Island Market, but the recipe I used involved too much cooking, resulting in less than crunchy pickles. I can't wait to try again with my own cucumbers and this new recipe.