garden news-the season is winding down

GARDEN NEWS-THE SEASON IS WINDING DOWN

this is the last of my tomatoes as shown above in the blue container
also in there is some tomatillos from the main garden
there are also a few of my zucchini squash and some tam (texas am) mild jalapeno peppers and some bell peppers and some sweet banana peppers

i only had about half the production for my tomatoes this year
some of the decreased production was because we have had such a mild summer
or 
should i say perfect summer weather if you arent a gardener except for some morning fog that burns off usually by mid morning
this mild weather and fog affects the tomato crop
even with that i still had a good tomato season 
we froze a lot of tomatoes for later use
we ate a ton of them
we gave a lot of them away
also
this year i planted my tomatoes in gopher cages using hardware cloth
when i removed two of my tomatoes i noticed the roots were stunted some as they grew through the tight fit of he hardware cloth
when that bed is cleared of summer crops i plan to lay down gopher wire down about a foot deep and bring it up on the sides of the bed to the surface
i will make sort of a gopher wire box and fill it back up with the garden soil
take that you gophers
it is buried down about one feet

in the bag is curly leaf kale that i planted last winter
it will usually grow two seasons here
we have eaten tons of it in salads and in all my beans and soups
i have donated a lot to the community garden to be donated to food kitchens etc
i also have given kale to my sons great dane who loves to eat the stems after the leaves are stripped off
in texas i couldnt grow kale as well in the winter and summer as it would get too cold or too hot

i replanted another zucchini so i have a second summer crop 
i should have zucchini until the mid to late fall

in the bottom of that blue container is some japanese eggplant
they havent been as productive as last year due to the cooler weather and morning fog
if we warm up some for september and october i might get more of them
last year the eggplants like the tomatoes did well here

my banana peppers and jalapeno peppers and bell peppers have been quite productive
we have eaten a lot of them and have frozen bags of the jalapeno peppers and bell peppers to use later in soups and beans and cooking

my malibar spinach is growing like crazy 
we have been eating a lot in our salads
we use the smaller leaves mixed with other greens
the larger leaves are used in spinach casseroles and my wife shes sag paneer recipe

i have  my second crop of green beans producing now
if we have good weather for awhile they should remain productive

i have removed half of my tomatoes so far
i left a sungold and a t tomato and an early girl i planted late
they are blooming and might produce some tomatoes if the weather warms up 

if not i will clear them out
then
place the gopher wire mentioned above
add a 4 inch layer of worm compost i make myself in the garden 
add some organic fertilizer
add some liquid fish emulsion plus seaweed plus molasses to activate the soil germs
then i fork it all in with the garden fork
then i cover it with mulch and let it sit until i plant my fall crops

also adding to my salads are leaves of amaranth and purslane and walking stick kale or collard tree

the seeds for cabbage and kale and sweet peas and broccoli and cauliflower and lettuce and beets are now growing in our greenhouse

i will transplant some into my garden for my winter crops

my garden is one of my happy places

the organicgreen doctor