Maine has decided it’s had enough of summer and has ushered in plenty a chilly night and stiff breeze as September has ticked by.
Despite the lack of 80 degree afternoons, my baby container garden has been growing along pretty well. My herbs, chards and kales have shown no signs of stopping and have been harvested greedily for making herb blends and to die for vegan lasagna. The single butternut squash plant that survived the spring was only able to give me a tiny baby in return. We roasted it for fun but the taste was not yet developed and bitter. 5 seeds were packed inside so I’ll be saving those for next year.
Taking a chance on a store bought potato gone rouge, I found some starchy treasures hidden beneath large chard leaves and a very sad and dead potato plant.
Harvesting potatoes is by far my favorite garden chore and I hope we’ll be swimming in them next season.
Against all odds, my hot and sweet peppers are showing off their hardiness. I’d like to dry them and save the seeds for next year as they were relatively cold hardy for hot peppers and seemed to tolerate a couple nights of temps in the mid-40s.
To round out the ragtag crew of the container garden was my Amish Paste roma tomatoes. While the plants grew like weeds in a pot that was too small, not many flowers came to be delish sauce tomatoes. I harvested what green ones were left and am crossing my fingers for them ripening well inside. If all goes well, I’ll probably be able to make a small batch of sauce for pizza, lasagna or soup.
Overall, this was a great first year at our homestead. With all the gravel littering our immediate area outside the house, intentional growing was a challenge. The weeds and wildflowers had no issues and were delightful to watch come and go but next year I’d like to expand into the earth proper.
