August Garden in Massachusetts

Rudbeckia or Black-eyed Susans Early August 2025

Zucchini Early August 2025

Eggplant Early August 2025

Cherry Tomatoes Early August 2025

Zucchini Early August 2025

Eggplant Early August 2025

Peppers Early August 2025

Blackberries Early August 2025

Potted Vegetables

Big Beef Tomato Plant in Pot
First Tomato July 6, 2017

Zuccini planted in Pot
First Zuccini July 6, 2017

Tomatoes

These  tomato plants are growing in a pot on a sundeck in Salem, Connecticut. 

 They were planted as bedding plants in mid-May and 

by the second week in August were almost 7 feet tall.

  Three separate tomato plants-Pineapple, Peach and Arkansas.

Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad.

  They produced a bountiful crop before the end of August.

August 2017

August 2017

Vegetable Garden

2016

Carrots  planted May 4, 2016

Beets planted May 4, 2016

Swiss Chard planted May 4, 2016
Asparagus planted May 4,2016

June 2016

 2017

This year the garden was planted late due to weather and Grandmaman was in Salem in May.  

Potatoes planted May 13, 2017 by Papa.

Swiss chard, beets, carrots, kale 

planted by Grandmaman May 26, 2017.

Photo taken July 11, 2017

Photo taken July 11, 2017

Asparagus

Bought 4 asparagus plants on May 3, 2016

  and planted in a vegetable garden with a west exposure

 in Norglenwold at Sylvan Lake on May 4, 2016.  

They are"Mary Washington" asparagus.  

Height 36 to 48 inches.  

Spread 8 to 12 inches.  

Blooming and Harvest Time-May-June.

Potatoes

We planted 12 hills of a mixture of red and white potatoes in the front flower bed at the front of the house with a west exposure.  Take note of the date-April 19, 2016.  

When out for a walk after supper, May 2, 2016 and noted that the potatoes are up. Less than 2 weeks from when we planted them.  Temperature today was up to 24 degrees here in Sylvan Lake.  

Rhubarb

1. We now have eight rhubarb plants in the yard and are hoping for a good crop of rhubarb for pies, jams and crisps.

   

   The two newest plants, seen below, (July 2014) are "Canada Red".

   Click Rhubarb for a link to more information.
   

   
   

   

   1. 

   Of the other six plants, six of them are Strawberry Rhubarb (three clumped together), which is similar to the Canada Red.  The sixth rhubarb is a greener, hardier, yet less sweet variety (perhaps a German Wine).  
2. Rhubarb is a vegetable, but it is often cooked, sweetened and combined with other fruits as a dessert.  It is an ancient plant traced back to China in 2700 BC.  It was used for medicinal purposes as a laxative, to reduce fever and cleanse the body.

I have always cut the rhubarb stalks when harvesting but recently read that it is better to pull the stalks rather than cut them.  The stalks detach easily and this way doesn't leave a stump to rot.  The leaves are poisonous and should be discarded.  It is best to pull the young tender stalks, leaving three or four strong stems.

Pumpkins and Bunnies

This year we planted a pumpkin plant in the front garden along with grasses, a weeping caragana and a bergenia.  It was planted as a small plant as soon as the threat of June frost was over and now about four weeks later it has overtaken the area and has a multitude of blossoms that will hopefully soon become pumpkins.  We plan to crop extra vines in order to allow the pumpkins to grow as quickly as possible, given our short frost free season.  

 This garden is visited regularly by the neighbourhood bunny who likes to rest in the shade of the plants as well as on the cool shaded lawn.  So far he has nibbled on the tall grass but has left the pumpkin and bergenia alone.  

Lots of male flowers 

A female flower with the start of a pumpkin

The pumpkins are growing very quickly now

The pictures below were taken on September 7, 2013.  The pumpkins have been growing quickly over the last week.  The above pumpkin was the largest but has been overtaken by the pumpkin in the pictures below.  The color of the pumpkins confused me.  I always thought pumpkins were green before they ripen to their bright orange colour.  So I turned to Google once more and found out that "Giant Pumpkins" start out yellow.  These must be giant pumpkins.  

I have "pruned" the pumpkin patch twice now.  Today I cut off all the tiny pumpkins, vines that went nowhere and any remaining flowers.  Under one pumpkin I placed a plastic lid and under another a foil plate with holes.  Hopefully this will keep the pumpkins from getting soggy.

This is our largest pumpkin as of September 7, 2013.  It is 13 inches long and has a circumference of 24.5 inches.  

5 days later, September 12 we remeasured.  Our pumpkin now measures 16 inches long and is 28.5 inches.  In five days it grew 3 inches in length and 4 inches in circumference.

 We are closely watching the pumpkin patch, as the littlest pumpkin (below), which used to be the largest pumpkin, began to get soggy underneath so we harvested it today (Sept. 12).  It has started to change into a deeper orange colour but although it isn't quite "ripe" we removed it from the vine before further damage occurred.  We will watch daily for any damage to our biggest pumpkin.

Vegetable Garden

First step of a vegetable garden finished today.  The garden will get full sun from it's southwest exposure.  Soil to be added soon, then these two garden boxes will be ready for planting next spring.  In the meantime, one of our potted tomato plants will try out the new home.

Broccoli and Kale/Le brocoli et le chou frisé

Kale and broccoli are a good choice for any garden.  These vegetables grow in a large planter with a southwest exposure in Calgary. They are started as annuals each spring.  The kale can be harvested throughout the summer.  
Click on comfort food for a wonderful traditional recipe from the Netherlands.  The broccoli didn't produce a crop this year.