Thursday, September 20, 2012

Fall Interlude


The fall crops are coming along nicely.


The beets are nice and snug inside their window screen home. The window screen fabric not only protects them from birds, it also cuts down on wind damage. So far there have been no signs of leaf shredding on any plant protected with the fabric.


Lots of pods on the soybean plants.


I had planned to take down the Black cherry plant last weekend, but a few tomatoes still have not changed color, so I'm giving them a few more days to ripen. In the mean time I trimmed off all the non-producing branches. Trimming the plant down like this also means I can go longer between waterings since there is less plant to hydrate.


I did the same for the Mountain Magic tomato plant. Surprisingly, after I trimmed the plant several more flowers pollinated.


Since more fruit has formed I'm going to let this plant linger for as long as the weather allows. I have no alternate plans for the container this season so there's no harm in letting the plant stay.


Besides watching the plants grow I started preparing the unused portion of the garden for winter storage. Flower pots were given compost and covered with black plastic to prevent weed growth. Vegetable pots were emptied of old soil and then given a good scrub down in preparation for new soil, which I'll buy next year.

The roof was swept clean of old plant debris to prevent pathogens from infecting next year's crops. I also moved a reed fence from a chimney on the shady west side of the roof to the full sun chimney on the east. Tomatoes do not seem to like this full sun location so next year I'll see how melons perform here.


September 13-September 19:

Cherry Tomato (Black): 2.7 ounces

Pepper (Flexum Hybrid): 2.4 ounces

Tomato (Mountain Magic): 1.8 ounces

This Harvest: 6.9 ounces

Total Vegetable Harvest 2012: 31 pounds, 9.52 ounces


Now that there's a lull in vegetable production, and because I'm going on a 2 week vacation next week, it's a good time to take a break from garden blogging and RSS feeding. I'll be back in November to update you on the remaining summer and fall roof crops, share my thoughts on the garden's performance and give away my extra 2012 seeds. See you in November!

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5 comments:

  1. Glad to see your garden survived our storms in NYC this week. I lost a tomato plant, a few row of radishes, and some major leaves of brussels sprouts. I think mostly due to wind. Still amazed by how plants recover.

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    1. One year they survived a tornado, after that I stopped worrying about their resiliency. Now, when a major storm comes, I just focus on preventing the pots from tipping over, not the plants themselves.

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  2. We're running a contest for gardens in New York, woud you like to enter? http://urbangardensnyc.wordpress.com/urban-gardens-nyc-photo-contest/

    We're offering prizes and we'd love to see pictures of your garden and how it's doing!

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  3. What a terrific blog and a fantastic garden you have. I have booked marked your site I don't want to miss what you do in 2013.

    Rooftop gardening has come a long way since my early days growing up in Brooklyn helping my grandmother water a few flower pots on her rooftop. I can still smell the hot tar from the rooftop whenever I think of those early years (1950's). I am going to try a few of your self watering systems and a few other ideas. Thank you

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    Replies
    1. That's great Deb, it always nice to hear about fellow gardeners growing food. Hope it works out!

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Thanks for sharing your thoughts!