Article by Jan Green

Just when you think you’re beginning to get it all figured out, you realize you have a whole lot more to learn. The early part of the month brought mild temperatures and an abundance of rain. Sounds perfect. Right? So, what we were expecting for the month of July and the actual outcome are not matching up, at least when it comes to our overall harvest, a little over 1000 pounds. I blame the cucumbers! Sadly, the summer crop of our former garden hero let us down.

Don’t get me wrong. We’ve been able to donate hundreds of pounds of tomatoes for which we are thankful. The determinate variety we planted this year, Early Girl Bush, did not disappoint-not in the least. Tomatoes were plentiful in June, but those are mostly gone now as the indeterminate varieties are taking their place, but not nearly at the same rate. Purple Boy tomatoes, a new variety for us last year, have not disappointed again this year. We like to experiment a bit with different varieties, and sometimes we are pleasantly pleased but sometimes not. Maybe the plant we chose does well elsewhere but just not here in our part of Texas. We recently removed a bed of tomatoes we were trying that fell into that category- low production and downright ugly, and we had such high hopes for them. Supposedly “Radiator Charlie”, an auto mechanic, developed a tomato in the 1930s and in just a few years sold enough plants to pay off his mortgage which is how it got its name-Mortgage Lifter. Interesting story, but they must have grown better in West Virginia where they originated than they did for us, or maybe it was just an off year. They will not be making the cut for next year.

Peppers have done ok, with jalapeños being the most productive (as always), but we have yet to find the perfect bell pepper. The four varieties we are currently growing are struggling with leaf loss. The season started off very promising with big beautiful bells that we were so proud to say were grown in our garden. Then came the rains, and there was a turn for the worse, even though we sprayed with an organic fungicide. Leaves are dropping daily, and it seems as if the plant’s energy goes to replacing those leaves instead of growing bell peppers. The plants are looking better now that the rainy days are behind us, and we’re hoping soon we’ll see one big beautiful bell after another.

That brings us to the cucumbers. Our first planting did well. Suyo Long was a new variety for us this year, and we will grow it again next year- a bitterless, heat resistant cucumber. We were looking for a bitterless cucumber that could take the summer heat but wouldn’t be monstrous like the Armenian cucumbers. We felt smaller cucumbers would be a better fit for donating to Good Samaritan. When this crop came to an end, we switched to Armenian, a fabulous producer for several years now, but these struggled and were reluctantly removed. They love the heat, so we can’t blame that. We suspect bacterial wilt due to infected cucumber beetles but aren’t absolutely certain. It’s so disappointing to not have a summer crop of those cucumbers, but we will soon try planting another variety which is resistant to bacterial wilt in hopes of getting a fall crop. By the way, it’s time to plant if you want crops like beans, squash, or cucumbers in your fall garden. As unpleasant as this may sound given the heat, these crops may not have time to ripen if planting is delayed while waiting for more desirable conditions.

The okra is just now starting to produce, a bit later than normal. They are loving the Texas sun, unlike some of us working out in the garden. No sunscreen, garden hats, or umbrellas for them. They’ll take that sun full strength with no complaints.

We have had fun with a ore unusual vegetables this year. Tromboncino squash which is somewhat resistant to vine borers and squash bugs (a big plus for us) has been one of those. Harvested early, they can be used like zucchini, although firmer and larger, ours growing to about 18” to 24”. They go to Salvation Army where those preparing the meals seemed up to the challenge when faced with learning how to cook this vegetable they had not seen or heard of before. Luffa has recently started to ripen, and some of our volunteers are expanding their cooking skills as well with the immature gourds. Those we miss while harvesting become spongy and inedible. These will be allowed to grow into sponges to be used in the kitchen, bath, or elsewhere. Finally, we are pleased that our fig trees made a comeback after a year of almost no edible production.

Every year brings challenges. Earlier this year, a cold front at just the wrong time wiped out our plum harvest and now the cucumbers that didn’t make it. Cucumber beetles, vine borers, squash bugs and nematode have all paid us a visit again this year. We’re getting to know them pretty well, but I definitely would not consider us friends. In our dream world, they would be allowed to visit the garden “by invitation only”. Unfortunately, we don’t live in that world.

As we look ahead, realizing fall is right around the corner, we are planting a few squash and cucumbers and hoping the tomatoes we planted a month ago (from suckers taken off of tomato plants already in production) will provide us with even more of those juicy treats. For now this garden still has more produce to grow, more people to feed, and the cucumbers still have time to redeem themselves before gardening comes to an end for us, giving the land time to rest and rejuvenate before it all starts again. It’s work will be done for this year.