“…Autumn hails anew…”
John Banister Tabb
My most surprising accomplishment in this year’s garden is that I have finally succeeded in growing sweet peas. Oh I have grown them before but they were always a bit straggly and never looked that happy. This year I planted them on the former site of the salad garden which has been much amended over the years. The combination of really good soil (thank you horse manure) and lots of rain has astounded me with sweet peas that are so thick that I can hardly see the support. The flowers smell wonderful and I have been able to cut them almost every day in August. They will tolerate some frost so I hope they will carry on into the fall.
I have been trying to grow good sweet peas for decades so to finally succeed feels like a victory. I thought I had added enough to the soil when I planted them before but obviously I didn’t. I remember my grandfather had a whole wall of sweet peas in his garden in Glen Williams, Ontario.
I’m sure it builds character for a success to take as long as this one did.
Also on the former site of the salad garden I planted cucumbers and zucchini. These were very successful, too.
I don’t miss the salad garden really. These days I prefer a salad that’s more substantial than the lettuce I used to grow. Roughly chopped cucumbers and tomatoes along with a little salt and oil and vinegar make a wonderful salad. A bit of feta added to this is nice but not strictly necessary.
This was a really good garlic year. All the rain produced a great crop. I’m not too fussy about when I replant; I’ve planted early and very late and it doesn’t seem to make a lot of difference.
Because of all the rain I did a second planting of bush beans. I know you can do several plantings of these but I usually don’t bother. It’s usually dry by August but not this year. The first planting was very productive and the second should be ready in September.
I also planted late carrots where the snow peas were. It was rainy enough this year to do this. What a joy to not only plant more vegetables than I usually do in mid summer but also to not have to water very much. We were truly blessed this year.
In the wild garden and in the field behind the vegetable garden the purple phlox continue to bloom. These have bloomed for weeks this year and they are glorious in a rainy year. If you take the trouble to deadhead them, they will often give a second bloom. Just cut them back to where you see new little green shoots emerging. I sometimes manage to do this… The flower bed hot peppers have taken off in August. I wrapped them in layers of row cover when we had a few cold nights. They have lots of flowers and peppers so I hope to have lots to dry for the winter. A good long fall will be helpful here.
Finally, one of the glories of the late summer garden, my many colours of glads, are putting on a good show right now. I realize that not everyone likes glads but I love them. My grandfather grew lots of these, too. In recent years I have added new frilly and over the top varieties. Go big and silly or go home. We try to not take ourselves too seriously.
I hope that the first frost is still a long way away. I’m enjoying the morning glories and so many other flowers and vegetables of the late summer garden.
Happy fall everyone.
By Jill Williams