Remembering the Kitchen Garden in September

Desperately trying to catch up with my monthly garden summaries. I will get to November eventually! I apparently didn’t take many photos of the kitchen garden in September. Was too busy with physical therapy and getting stuff done to prepare the house for winter, I guess (sealing a flat roof, painting the back porch railing, replacing all of the back porch steps, etc). Had a laundry list of things to do before my class started the end of the month.

The summer months are always the best time of year for the kitchen garden. My spring-planted vegetables tend to dwindle by September. The exception was the Cherokee Tomato. I FINALLY started to get some of these dark-skinned beauties in September.

I didn’t plant Sungold Tomatoes this year, however, they decided to show up anyway. Must have reseeded from last year. They were still incredibly sweet and yummy.

The Alaska Nasturtiums and Bright Lights Swiss Chard light up the front of the kitchen garden with hot colors. I am loving how the red and orange nasturtium flowers bring out the red and orange stems of the swiss chard. These are still going strong even now.

Another colorful combo, this time in pink and purple. The Beautyberry bush never fails to amaze me with its bright purple berries. The Fireworks Gomphrena has bloomed all season. They are great as cut flowers and last a long time in a vase. These, along with the Cut And Come Again Zinnias that are also growing in the kitchen garden, make a great combo in a vase.

I planted some cool-season veggies in September: Escarole, Joi Choi Pak Choi, Leeks, Kale Redbor, Superdukat Dill (a tall variety), and Graffiti Cauliflower (a purple variety). I have never had any luck with cauliflower and broccoli, but never tried the purple kind, so thought I’d give it a whirl.

I also planted some spinach. You can see more Alaska Nasturtium and Sungold Tomatoes here, along with my feet. That is probably the most you will ever see of me on this blog!

The cool-season veggies are still doing well as we begin November. As I mentioned in a previous post, I hope to get them covered this weekend in an attempt to extend the growing season for as long as possible.