Article by Jan Green

As we tear off another month on the calendar, we are hearing promises of cooler, more fall-like temperatures ahead. Then that changed to a forecast of temperatures near 100°. So typical, summer not wanting to make its departure quite yet. We’ve sown the last few of our summer crop seeds, hoping they will have time to produce before we have to start grabbing jackets as we head out the door. It’s always a little sad realizing this planting and growing season is winding down for us. We hope to still have over two months of harvest time left if the weather cooperates and doesn’t surprise us with one of those one night arctic blasts. When the weather consistently gets too cold for our summer crops to tolerate, there will still be a couple months of work to do even though we have no produce to show for it. No produce to harvest and weigh can be a little disheartening after a summer of harvesting three times per week. A few strawberries will be transplanted in October, the perfect time to do so here in Texas if you want that sweet, juicy taste of spring that is such a welcome treat when little else is being harvested. We also have clean up time at the garden when bed after bed of tomato and pepper plants nearly as tall as the volunteers are removed, and then there’s the daunting task of uprooting the okra plants that have grown to be the size of small trees. It’s actually a little too much to ask of most of our senior volunteers. If you want a good upper body workout, we could use help when the time comes. Finally, cover crops are planted for the winter to protect and enrich the soil. We hope to have just enough time to squeeze these projects in before taking time off for the holidays and for giving thanks for what has been accomplished with the help of so many volunteers and organizations that support the garden, enabling it to go forward.

But back to the present. Peppers are in their glory right now with temperatures that are pretty much to their liking-not too hot and not too cold. Typically, when the summer temperatures shoot up over 100° and nighttime lows are consistently above 75°, the peppers might remind you of Shrinky Dinks, the once popular kids’ craft that would shrink when subjected to high temperatures. And so it is with the peppers that once grew large and plump suddenly no longer grow to their normal size. Since we’ve experienced milder weather this summer, thank heavens that has not been as noticeable as it has been in years of oppressive summer heat. Week after week, boxes of mostly bells and jalapeños have made their way to Good Samaritan and Salvation Army for people throughout the community to enjoy.

Another round of cucumbers was planted in hopes of enabling us to grow enough to be able to supply Salvation Army enough to make their garden fresh cucumber salad a few more times before hot apple cider and sweater weather moves in. That’s probably going to depend on our luck in keeping the cucumber beetles away from the plants, but we’re sure going to give it a try with a combination of kaolin clay and Spinosad. Our vining plants have not done as well this year. Hopefully that’s about to change. It’s now or never for this year since there won’t be enough time for another planting if these get hit with bacterial wilt which we believe those infected cucumber beetles have worked overtime this summer to spread. The war against that pest has not yet been won.

We’re still hoping the tomato production will pick up soon. The few tomatoes we do get have often been visited by some unwelcome guest. Consequently, we’ve resorted to harvesting when they just begin to show a hint of color. Given a few days at room temperature, they should turn fire engine red, juicy, and sweet, well, all except for the Lemon Boy tomatoes which obviously turn yellow rather than red.

So that’s about it for August. The number of bugs goes up while production typically goes down during this month. We do our best to keep the pests under control but admittedly have not been completely successful. On the bright side, we’ve been successful enough to grow a little over 5500 pounds of fruits and vegetables at the community garden so far this year. We’re grateful for what’s been accomplished as we’ve worked together to fulfill our goal of growing fresh produce for those in need around us. .