Although it’s still warm here in NYC, since Labor Day it’s really felt like summer has ended. Once the temperatures become more moderate, it will really feel like fall. I am of mixed feelings about this – normally I don’t care much about or for fall, in my mind it’s just the transition season to The Dreaded Winter. I am not big on the frigid weather of the Northeast. However, this year’s summer was so terribly scorching hot, with multiple 90+ degree temperature days in a row, cooler weather can’t come soon enough. I am eager for fall.
First tipoff to the transition out of summer – I received an acorn squash in my CSA share this past week. I’ll save it for a cooler day, though – I absolutely love winter squash of all kinds, so this is an awesome score!
I expect I’ll have some green tomatoes to fry later in the season. To my surprise, my paste and Prudens Purple tomatoes are still producing! I really thought the Prudens Purple tomato was on its way out for sure, but there are a few little tomatoes on the plant, and none have blossom end rot so far.
I think the BER problem really was with me – I don’t believe I watered the tomatoes nearly enough this year, which would explain how nutrients couldn’t get to the fruit. I’ve been watering more intensely this past few weeks, and all the tomatoes are doing much, much better. I have close to a dozen little paste tomatoes hanging on, too!
The mystery plant – the one that looked like a cucumber plant – is not a cucumber at all. I think it might be a melon or a winter squash – the fruit is small and hard, about the size of a large fig. I have no idea where it came from, but I’m enjoying watching it grow and do its thing.
In general, the garden is looking quite rag-tag. The lemon cucumbers are at their end; the tomatillos did not fruit one whit; the tomato plants are looking scraggly. It’s a little scary looking out there right now.
I’ll be in Portland OR for a few days and hope to enjoy some of the delicious food in the Pacific Northwest. I’ll bring my camera and take pictures and share some of them here after I return.
Safe travels, Meg!