Peter Piper has nothing on me

My garden is dying. Not all of it. But most of it appears as yellowish brown and wilted. Despite this, there is still fruit to be bore. The plant that is showing the most evidence of demise is my squash. I believe it is being helped along by the striped cucumber beetles that have taken up residence there near all season long. I am still getting a few squash from the plants but the growth rate has slowed. It's to be expected. This is September after all.

But wait. Is it? I just did one of my last few harvests for the year in 90 degree weather. This is supposed to be harvest season where the air is starting to become crisp, the breeze cooler and the wearing of summer shorts more sporadic. At least that is what I am used to here in Michigan. But no. Instead, I have come in from a picking dripping with sweat. But that is OK because this IS Michigan after all and if you don't like the weather you just wait for a bit. This case is no different. Yesterday it hit 93 here in Lansing. Friday the high will be 60. The low a mere 40 degrees. That is a 53 degree difference in 4 days. Yikes. I digress.

The plant that I am still picking from at a ridiculous rate is my black cherry tomato plants. I can barely keep up with them. So prolific. I have to believe I have picked 2-3 pounds a week for the past month or two. At least. This is from 4 or 5 plants. Oddly, my Italian heirloom tomatoes did not produce like crazy. I probably only harvested about 25 tomatoes this year so far. Which is a complete switch from last year. Last year, I was probably taking in 25 tomatoes a week from July onward. Enough to make lots of sauce to freeze. And my black cherry tomatoes were in low supply. Obviously this years weather made my tomato crop low but I have to wonder if it in turn made the cherry tomatoes more abundant.

Also, you may remember a month or so back that I had to pull many of my pole beans due to bean rust. Well, I let a 3-4 of the healthier plants stay just to see if they would grow and produce. They have. I have been picking beans off of the pole bean plants for the last few weeks. Glad to see I still managed to get something from them despite it being an off year.

And last but not least, my peppers. It is a good thing I love peppers and eat them with a lot of my food. Because holy wow. Just a few plants has kept me in full abundance all summer long.

And now for the pictures. These are just what I picked today.

Just one harvest. I've gotten this amount every 3-4 days for the last month or so.

Three more acorn squash! I have to admit, I've yet to eat the original 3 or 4 I picked a few weeks back as I've been waiting for more autumn type weather to eat and enjoy. And would you look at that pile of peppers?

Mix of pole and bush beans. Probably one of my last decent sized harvests for the year as most of my bush beans are done. 

There you go! In the next week or two, after I clean out the garden bed, I will do a year end reflection blog entry and further explain what you can expect out of me and this blog during the winter months. Thanks to everyone who reads this. For me, it is more than just a hobby and I love sharing what I do. And again, as always, your comments and questions are always welcomed here!