<p>Boy, that’s real tough love, Walkinghome!</p>
<p>I have frozen a gazillion green peppers. We will have a taste of summer all winter long.</p>
<p>I’ve canned dozens of jars of jam, I’ve got my summer in the jar too! </p>
<p>BarnardMom, send them in a care package to your S??? ;)</p>
<p>Three recipes I’ve been using for an abundance of tomatoes and poblano peppers.</p>
<p><a href=“The Best Stewed Tomatoes Ever - Easy Homemade Recipe”>http://brooklynfarmgirl.com/2013/08/14/the-best-stewed-tomatoes-ever/</a>
<a href=“http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/marcela-valladolid/creamy-poblano-pepper-strips-rajas-recipe.html”>http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/marcela-valladolid/creamy-poblano-pepper-strips-rajas-recipe.html</a>
<a href=“http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchens/stuffed-poblanos-with-roasted-corn-recipe.html”>http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchens/stuffed-poblanos-with-roasted-corn-recipe.html</a></p>
<p>^^^^^^^^^I’ll take a stuffed poblano with a side of those stewed tomatoes!!! Looks amazing!!!</p>
<p>Still getting cherry tomatoes. The basil is starting to flower. Have cut off the flowers as directed, but will they affect the taste of the leaves in any way?</p>
<p>My basil has been flowering for weeks. I just cut it off and have been using it and it has been growing just great until very recently when it has that fall “yellowy” look. Did you know that if you cut basil and put it in water (I put mine in a clear glass that I keep near the kitchen sink and window) that it will continue to grow and produce? Handy! </p>
<p>Gardens still up and running?</p>
<p>Did a bit of a clean out this weekend. STILL picking grape tomatoes and sugar sweets. A few regular tomatoes yet to ripen. Still have a couple of pepper plants going. Had to pull the sweet basil (sad!), but still have a little minature basil and oregano. Trimmed the zinnias (they are GORGEOUS!) and replanted radish, a mixed lettuce and arugula - all of which had about a 30-35 growing period - thought maybe with luck I’ll get a little more crop out of the raised bed this season! </p>
<p>Will be so, so sad to see gardening end. :(</p>
<p>Only my sun sugars are still at it, maybe 8 or 9 green left. Still get a few green beans. every few days. And the acorn squash (2, size of tennis balls,) are slowing because the leaves are going. But thanks for the tip to plant lettuce and radish again. Oh, the sage did very well when I moved it to just a few hours of sun.</p>
<p>Time to assess this season. Hungarian Chili Peppers were very successful and are still producing. Cherry 100 Tomatoes did well also. True to their name, they were really sweet. None of them made it to the kitchen. Casper eggplant, gandia eggplant and long purple eggplant didn’t bear much fruit, which I attribute to a mild summer. Okra also had few pods, but I’ve noticed a few more small pods emerging this week. Very little production from the full size tomato plants. Rutgers and Jubilee were all diminished by blossom end rot. I’ll probably uproot the tomato plants this weekend.</p>
<p>Finished painting the pergola twice. Now I can bring my Eden Climber to plan near it. I can imagine a beautiful English garden. I can safely order bare fruit trees and strawberries for planting.
On the vegetable front I have lots of dills, a few cucumbers picked and one big humongous 8-10 feet volunteer tomato.
Getting excite about gardening again.</p>
<p>Just came home with a bucket of tomatoes, peppers and even a few Japanese eggplants! Yipee! My Black Crimea tomatoes finally ripened - irregular shaped heirlooms . They are indeed almost black and they taste amazing, so it was worth the wait. One plant produced about 25 very large tomatoes. I’m impressed! </p>
<p>Wow that is a good bounty! I think I’d need to eat them with my eyes closed!!!</p>
<p>The one thing I wish I could keep growing is a nice selection of herbs. I’m going to plant a pot of basil and see if I can keep it going. We have a sun porch that I can keep them on. I just don’t want plants all over inside though !!</p>
<p>Still up and running, but time to make some tough choices. I am about to put in fall crops, and somethings got to give. </p>
<p>something took a small bite out of one of my two acorn squash. Next day, that whole squash had disappeared. So I picked the other, though it’s still tennis ball size. This was a fun summer, will plant the same next year- but twice as much. Chard still going strong and the last few sun sweets coming. </p>
<p>It’s strawberry planting season here but I could order any bare root strawberry plants online for fall planting so I went to Armstrong and they have 2 flats of strawberry plants the Quinault type. Very attractive plants, I’m getting excited just thinking of planting them. I just hope Mr. Rabbit doesn’t eat half of my plants before I get some strawberries.
On the other hand, my volunteer Stupice tomato plant is now 8 feet by 8 feet. So green, very relaxing, but I have not seen a single red tomato. I think Mr. Rabbit must have eaten them all.</p>
<p>Funny, I was just thinking of updating here. My cherry tomato plants look terrible but are still producing some fruit. Brough in 18 of them today. There are still some green tomatoes and even a few flowers, but its the end of the season. Havent bought a store bought tomato (cherry tomato that is- had to but a few big ones for company in Aug) since May.</p>
<p>Dr G, I put bird netting around my vulnerable plants. It kept away squirrels and whatever else. Frost expected overnight, Sun-Mon, 33 deg.</p>
<p>My tomatoes are gone, but I went to a local farm stand today and bought the last of the tomatoes they sell for canning or making sauce. These tomatoes were seconds–a few bruises. I brought them home and canned them all–I’m happy to say I now have 10 quarts of canned tomatoes for the winter!! I’m also exhausted.</p>