Slowly Winding Down

The wind is starting to pick up on the roof so that means it's time to start wrapping up the garden for winter. I toyed with the idea (for about 2 seconds) of planting carrots or some other fall crop to extend the harvest, but I've come to the conclusion that fall vegetable gardening is just not for me, at least on this specific rooftop. It's just too exposed to the elements. As the weather gets colder it gets windier up here, which makes it an increasingly unpleasant place to spend time. Gardening for me is a pleasure, not a chore, and I'm not interested in doing anything that will make it chore, so once the wind picks up I know it's time to wind down the garden. This will be a slow process however since many plants still bear fruits. Some of the tomato plants and all of the pepper plants still have a few more vegetables to give.

I moved some containers around so they can grab more of the waning daylight.

Sunsugar F1 cherry tomato. This plant is struggling with disease, which has spread to the cherries, so I've stopped eating them, but I'm leaving the plant alive for a few more days so it can draw water out of the soil. The reservoir has been drained of water, now I'm just waiting for the soil to dry out. Once that's done I'll churn the soil and pick out any pupa I find, I had a hornworm caterpillar problem I don't want to carry over into next year, and then cover the container for winter.

Giant Aconcagua peppers

Bush Goliath F1 tomato

Orient Express F1 eggplant is still blooming, but I think fruit production is done for the year. Water has been drained from the reservoir and now I'm just waiting for the soil to dry out.

Orange Blaze F1 peppers

I think this is probably my favorite plant of 2014. These peppers are a perfect pocket sized snack. I would regularly stick a few in my handbag to munch on throughout the work day. No prepping needed, I'd just eat them like an apple.

Beaverlodge tomato

Pink Berkeley Tie Dye tomato

October 16-29:

Cherry Tomato (Sunsugar F1): 2.0 ounces

Eggplant (Orient Express F1): 2.325 ounces

Pepper (Giant Aconcagua): 3.625 ounces

Pepper (Orange Blaze F1): 5.125 ounces

Tomato (Beaverlodge): 3.875 ounces

Total: 1 pound, 0.95 ounces

2014 Running Weight Total: 58 pounds, 0.325 ounces

2014 is now officially my 2nd best harvest year! Yay!!

Visit bucolicbushwick.com to read more about rooftop vegetable gardening.