Garden Evaluation: bush beans, beets, carrots

Box 1, revisited: Fall crops
bush beans, beets, carrots, (+ annual sunflower and zinnias)
planted July 17

Bush Beans: 3 sq. x 9/sq
Variety: Blue Lake Bush
Yield: Plenty for eating fresh
Pests, problems, diseases: none, since they were planted after the Japanese beetles had mostly gone away.
Finished: beginning of September
Comments: Good flavor! I was impressed with the yield for the number of plants put in. Also, for planting them at the end of summer, they did great! We harvested several meals' worth before the end of the season. With the warm planting weather, they grew really fast. They did overrun the other fall crops, though. Would need to plan that differently next time.

Carrots: 2 sq x 16?/sq
Variety: Short 'n Sweet
Yield: nothing
Pests, problems, diseases: bush beans crowded them out
Finished: n/a
Comments: these came up ok, but I didn't thin them out. I don't think it would have made much difference, in the end, if I had. The bush beans were so vigorous that they completely took over the space. Will have to give these a try in a different setting next time.
Beets: 2 sq. x 16?/ sq
Variety: Detroit Dark Red
Yield: none

Pests, problems, diseases: bush bean takeover

Finished: n/a

Comments: as with the carrots, these put up little shoots, but then were completely overrun by bush beans. Maybe next time I'll put these and the carrots in their own box and see how they do.

Ripening fall tomatoes

I found some great info from the Iowa State Extension office. I want to try the method where you wrap them in newspaper.



How to ripen end-of-season green tomatoes
When frost is imminent, mature green tomatoes can be harvested and ripened indoors. The fruit should be solid, firm, free of defects, full-sized, and have a greenish white skin color. Remove the stems, then clean and dry the fruit.

Individually wrap each fruit in a piece of newspaper and place in single layers in boxes or shelves. Store the tomatoes in a dark, cool (55–60° F) location, such as a basement or cellar.
Inspect the tomatoes periodically during storage. Discard any soft or decaying fruit. When the tomatoes begin to color, remove the newspaper and place them at room temperature (not in sunlight—sunlight softens them without ripening and strips them of their vitamins A and C).

To ripen tomatoes more quickly, put them in a brown paper bag with or without an apple.
As apples or tomatoes ripen, they give off ethylene gas. Ethylene speeds up the fruit ripening
process when confi ned in a closed bag.

An alternate ripening method is to leave the green tomatoes on the vine, pull the entire plant, and hang it upside down in a cool, dark location. (Obviously, this method can be a bit messy.) Harvest the tomatoes from the vine as they ripen.

It also is possible to protect plants by covering with old sheets, blankets, tarps, newspaper, or paper bags.

Finally, some green beans!

About half of these green beans are from the bush beans planted in early August!

There's actually enough for 2 meals. Wow!

Plus more tomatoes.

Renovations

Box 1, Round 2

As my husband so astutely observed, I'm more of a planter than a weeder. So after the peas, potatoes, and onions were gone, I spent a little of my flower money on these bright annuals to take up some space, and planted beets in the space that was left. Much better option than bare ground, which would then fill with weeds.

Notes of interest:

The zinnias have already attracted at least 2 different kinds of butterflies! They would be a good choice for filler in my big flower beds next spring.

The sunflowers are looking great because it has just rained twice in the last couple of days, but they were really drooping before that. Another reminder NOT to plant anything in July, unless you plan to pour water on it every day. I figured they would do okay in the vegetable box, because I water those at least 2x per week. Thank goodness for this rain!

Look how awesome the beans are doing! Also, I didn't get a close enough shot to be able to tell, but the carrots and the beets have just come up. We'll see how this goes--it is my first attempt at doing fall crops.

Wow! that was fast!

I can't believe these bush beans have already sprouted! Jacob and I planted them last Friday and they're already 3 inches tall. Maybe we will get some beans this year...