Ah, Labor Day weekend! It means we are in late summer and have only a few weeks left before the autumnal equinox. While I have been busy planting fall crops, I began to think it would be nice to take a tour of three of the gardens I wrote about at the beginning of the season.
Look for this sign around the county!
These are Central Library, Ball-Sellers, and the American Legion Post on Washington Boulevard.
Central Library, of course, I have written about with some regularity this summer. When I visited Saturday, the finches were feasting on the sunflowers by the tennis courts—loudly. In fact it was their volume that made me notice them, and that’s saying something, given how bright they are.
Not only are they bright and loud, but they’re acrobats!
The library garden is looking good for this time of year. The squash and cucumbers have peaked and are looking a little “end of summer,” but the peppers and eggplants are coming into their own.
See that purple peeking out?
The Malabar spinach we planted a few weeks ago in the square foot garden has come up and looks sturdy. There’s summer left in this garden, and no doubt a few fall crops in the offing.
I will be interested to see how the Malabar spinach develops.
The American Legion Post plot, with its squash plants and cucumbers is bearing up well, with zucchini and patty pans on the vine.
A wall of squash and cucumbers! Note the yellow squash at bottom.
It also has some broccoli seedlings settling in for fall and winter. What a great advertisement for use of space this garden is!
The Ball-Sellers House was busy when I stopped by. Volunteers had lemonade and gingerbread set out for visitors, and they were enthusiastic about the garden. There were tomatoes, squash, peppers, and eggplants, along with cucumbers, still bearing in the enclosure.
White patty pans at Ball-Sellers House.
It was a good season here for lettuces and beans, and the tomatoes look good, considering they are heirlooms and the fungal wilt is just about everywhere in Northern Virginia.
Not bad for a late summer tomato plant!
In my own garden, I finished fall plantings and harvested more peppers, tomatoes, and chard. I’m waiting for the eggplants to grow some more so I can harvest them, and looking forward to a continuing healthy crop of basil.
I’ll have eggplant while I wait for the fall crops to come up!
