Time to collect seeds and harvest what the garden marauders left behind!
The humidity is oppressive this morning. I feel like I am in a sauna. With the humidity and the rain, you have probably noticed that there has been more munching on the leaves of your plants. I have noticed that when we have wetter weather we get more slugs, and I have found many baby slugs where I work. I have not seen many here, but I have had an increase in toads. Toads find slugs to be very tasty.
The too-many cats are spending more of their time in the screened-in porch. I think they can sense that the seasons are changing, and they are watching all the delicious-looking birds and rodents prepare for the upcoming winter. All the little creatures are loading up on calories and enjoying the bounty of the harvest. I am trying to reserve some of that harvest for me!
Harold is surveying his domain.
As the weather starts to change, I am watching my plants carefully. Several flowers and vegetables are going to seed. The radishes that I have left to go to seed have sweet pink flowers and some little pods that are like tiny pea pods. The potatoes that I planted in the spring flowered earlier and I was unable to collect any seeds. The birds and squirrels are much quicker than I am. This year I decided to try some Peruvian potato seeds. I tried starting some early; I planted some in pots and in special spots but had absolutely no luck. Last week I found that two seeds must have fallen out near the pot that I planted, and they grew! Their leaves are pointier than the potatoes I planted, and they are blooming now. I hope to collect some of these seeds as it would be so amazing to keep them going from year to year.
Flowers on potato grown from seed.
Yesterday, as I went around the various pots to gather tomatoes for my salad, I came across a ripe Sweet Cubanelle pepper and added that into the mix. It was delicious. I took the opportunity to carefully collect the seeds. I scraped the seeds from the pepper onto a paper towel and let it dry for about two days. After the seed was totally dry, I put it in a paper envelope and labelled it and put it in a safe spot so that I can use the seed next spring. This pepper has been very successful, and I would like to continue growing it. My jalapeno is not doing as well. Last year it was great. Each year seems to be a learning opportunity.
Fresh pickings.
Seeds ready for collection.
Last week I gave a talk on Trowel Talk Live. I talked about adding Whimsy to your garden. Trowel Talk Live happens every Wednesday at 12:30pm with a 15-minute talk and 15 minutes of questions. There is a variety of topics on offer. The talks will go on into October and if you want to register you can go here https://mgottawa.ca/Trowel_Talk_Live.php.
If you can’t make that time, you can review all of the talks on the Master Gardener YouTube channel, https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSHn8JmZzjeKnlpBbM-c5Ag. My talk is called Introducing Light and Magic but there are many more and all of them are interesting. A great rainy-day activity.
I decided to join the too-many cats in the porch. Sipping my tea, watching the rain, and pretending that the nasty squirrels are not looking at my tomatoes. Enjoy your week.
Judith (Email: sghorticultural@gmail.com)
Veggie Bites are available at https://sghorticultural.wixsite.com/website or https://gardeningcalendar.ca/articles/veggie-bites/