Turned cool, thankfully . . . or not

It has been very, very warm for New England.  Hot and humid.  Thank God for those window units that still work.  And lots of fans.  We have survived.

Last night I went out on the deck to try to find one of my cats (they must come in at night or they could become a meal for coyotes) and was shocked to find it in the 60's.  Oh, it was so refreshing.  Yes, to a person it feels wonderful.  To a squash or cucumber plant it means almost coming to a standstill in growth.

This morning is it 58.4 degrees Farenheit at 6:15 a.m.  Brrrr.  I am not complaining for me.  It is delightful.  But I want more squash, cucumbers and tomatoes.  Strangely enough, August in Connecticut tends to be cooler than July, the opposite of the southern states.  In Texas or Florida, August is usually the hottest, and I mean scorching hot, month.

Sugar pumpkin turning beautiful orange.  Look closely at the bottom of the picture.

With those cooler, fallish temperatures it makes more sense to have my first Sugar Pumpkin begin to turn orange.  What a gorgeous contrast between the green and orange.  And if you look closely at the picture, what do you see beneath that pumpkin?

Joey's pumpkin

See Joey's pumpkin? This is pumpkin number two what is growing on the fencing.  And boy how it has grown.

Joey's pumpkin

Did you know that if you scratch a child's name on a growing pumpkin it scabs over?  When the pumpkin is ready it has the child's name in light brown against the orange outer skin?  I took a nail to Joey's pumpkin on Saturday.  I took this picture yesterday (Monday) and it was already scabbing over.  This morning it is much more pronounced.

Pumpkin blossom

I have taken at least 50 shots of pumpkin flowers but this is my favorite.  The color is so intense as though the vine sends up a big party platform declaring, "sweet nectar for all!!!"  The stamen is huge (though not captured in this shot) as though it was designed for blind bees, or those who accidentally stumble upon this giant flower.

Moskovich tomato plant

The tip of my Moskovich tomato (driveway container garden) reaching for the heavens, soaking in a shower of rays from the hot sun.  

Have a wonderful Tuesday!

Garden Update

The tomato plants have created a jungle.  I never got around to staking them which I will most likely regret.  Most of the tomato plants in this bed are cherry tomato varieties.  I won't know which are which until they ripen.  I am hoping for at least one plum tomato variety.
The lettuce bed was partially destroyed by our dog.  I found her laying in the middle of my lettuce plants after digging a little spot for herself.  I guess she thought that would be the coolest place to chill out, literally. The garlic is doing well.  I will definitely plant more garlic this fall for early spring garlic next year.

My snowpeas (which I thought were sugar snap peas) are a little large here but make a great shot.  I haven't been getting out to the garden every day since it got so hot so these little guys are not so little by the time I pick them.  My 12yo son loves eating the peas out of the pods and then eating the pods.  He doesn't care if they aren't as tender.  He just loves these veggies.

Oh, and I continue to pick blueberries from the many varieties and cultivars growing at the perimeter of my yard.  I have frozen three bags so far. I sent my 12yo son out the other day to pick. He seemed to enjoy the activity but enjoys popping frozen blueberries in his mouth the most (he just grabs a handful and enjoys).

Canned tomatos

I had a few tomato seedlings left over after planting my garden that were just poor, little, pitiful things.  I saved these cans from cooking over the winter (I make huge batches of black bean chili) and thought they would look really interesting with tomato plants growing in them.  I planted these 4 days ago and they have more than doubled in size and are finally green instead of that stressed purple.

Moskovich tomato -- about 3.5 inches across

My first slicing tomato is growing so quickly I hope it doesn't split.  I planted this tomato in the pot on my driveway along with oregano, Cosse Violette pole beans, parsley, chives and a pepper plant which didn't make it.

I harvest several beans a day and although I don't really like string beans, these purple beans are so pretty I just like looking at them.  I might eat some, too.

This is my favorite gardening project, this container garden.  It inspires me to once again buy some large pots and plant a deck garden.  I might do that even though it is so late in the season.  I just might.


My next big project is a solar dehydrator.  I have a dream . . .