The state of the garden

My fellow gardeners, the state of the garden is good.* But seriously, folks. It's amazing to look at the vegetable garden now compared to what it looked like in June. When we get to this stage, I'm always worried that something will happen (wind storm, hail) that will ruin it all. Last year we had tomato blight and lost half the crop (but still had plenty of tomatoes). So far, we've been lucky.

Large plump tomatoes on the verge of turning red.

This year I've planted the tomatoes a little farther apart and have been good about stripping the lower leaves to provide better air flow. And when I water (which has been a lot this year due to lack of rain), I water only at the base of the plant so as not to wet the leaves. So far, so good. The tomatoes are still green, but there are plenty of them and they look healthy.

Some of the tomato plants are easily five feet high.

We're getting green beans now and my only regret is that I didn't plant more. The cukes are producing, albeit slowly, and we now have jalapeno peppers forming. We have more zucchini than we know what to do with (last year's crop wasn't great). Bell peppers and eggplant are blossoming. And the winter squash plants are putting out (except for the butternut which I'm still waiting for). We've talked about expanding the garden next year for even better spacing and more room for beans.

The only crop that isn't working is the collard greens. Flea beetles are ravaging them (but nothing else) and they just can't get going. We'll try another crop for the fall.

* In the US, this is the line many Presidents use to open their annual State of the Union address: "My fellow Americans, the state of the union is good."