It's been two months since the last update, and we had a light frost the other day. We pulled up the peanuts two weekends ago and got roughly 12lbs from about 12' of plants. Probably about one third of the shells were empty or only had one peanut, so we'll need to get a soil test done and possibly add some calcium (Gypsum) into the soil next year when they flower. We'll also start them a few weeks earlier next year and water them a good bit better, especially when they're flowering.
The Ichiban eggplants have won the award for the longest, most productive plant in the garden. The three plants are still producing a large number of eggplants, though I imagine that will stop soon now that the highs should be closer to the lows 60s. The asparagus also did very well this year though what we planted in the raised beds did better than what we planted in the ground. We should certainly be able to harvest some next year.
For the fall garden, Carrie started two types of carrots near the end of August that should be getting close to ready. In the second week of September she planted several salad greens: Corn Salad Mache Vit, Kyona Mizuna, Red Russian (Red Kale), Winterbor Kale (Green Kale), Oak Leaf Lettuce, Big Boston Lettuce. She also planted some Ruby Perfection Cabbage, Arcadia Broccoli, Red Ace Beets, and Brilliant Celerica. We used row covers for all of these to keep the deer and rabbits away, and so far they all seem to be doing well.
So far we've used the Kyona Mizuna and the Red Kale in salads and both were very good. The other greens should be ready within a week or two.
Weekend before last we also planted two more blueberry bushes bringing out total to seven. Our first row contains the following: one Bluebelle, one Tif Blue, two Southland, and a Sunshine Blue. We just added a second row containing: Alapaha, and Ochlockonee. We might add a few more in the back if we find room for them, and we need to add one more Southern Highbush to help pollinate the Sunshine Blue.
Last weekend some deer managed to break into the orchard area and broke several branches on all of the fruit trees. They also managed to rub a fair amount of the bark off several trunks and larger branches. Hopefully they well all make it, but we will definitely be working on getting a permanent fence around the area this winter.
