End of Summer

 Wow, boy did I ever forget about this thing. 

Actually, this year has been incredibly busy and the U of M's Master Gardener program took me a long time to fulfill all the requirements. I wasn't exactly in top blogging mode but alas, I'm not sure who blogs anymore when there's Instagram and TikTok. Apparently only the Xennials. HA.

This summer was an odd one. We had a very chilly and rainy start to the season - which meant that it took the pollinators a heck of a lot longer to wake from their slumber or make their way up from Mexico. Their trip from Mexico was thwarted by rains and cooler temps, which means that they weren't active or leaving their Mexico wintering spots (there's three main locations). By August my flowers are filled with caterpillars and butterflies but the Monarchs just started showing up in the past week. There were 10 on one of my liatris yesterday. It's fun to see! I didn't get a good look at their body sizes - usually a bigger body means the last generation before they make the flight to Mexico. Because they are so late this year, their journey may be cut short - and hopefully they'll have the instincts to turn back soon before the winter hits.

The cooler weather also meant that my peppers didn't fully grow and mature - I have only two plants that were able to make it through to the warmer July and August. I harvested maybe 7 jalepenos before a trip to Cuyuna. I saw there's about 7 more. I'll chop and freeze those for chili this winter. This year's peppers were so unlike last year - last year I had peppers coming out of my ears and couldn't use them fast enough. 

This year my high achievers were: cucumbers, finally (after rabbit fencing) 3 lacinato kale plants, the potatoes came back with around 80 total potatoes (so about 8-10 meals), and Sungold tomatoes. My Mr. Stripeys are also doing great after a week of cool night temps, they taste pretty delish and I will grow again. 

I also grew artichokes this year - 3 are blooming. Next year I'm going to move those down to the street for passersby to see. The artichokes are members of the thistle family and I quickly realized that they don't mind if you forget about them. They're bred to grow in the northern climate so I'm hoping they bloom through September. These are also added to the list to grow again. 

We started getting cool temperatures at night a few weeks ago. The cooler temps will ripen tomatoes but also tell your squash plants that it's time to be done. Your peppers will start turning red and orange if you haven't harvested them yet. Basil and maybe your second succession of cilantro is probably bolting. The weather is indicating that it's a season change. 

Happy September!