Autumn Surprises

The days grow shorter and my shadow gets longer.

A Chill in the Air

Now that some nights are dipping into the 50's I'm thinking about what should be pulled and what should stay.

Friend or Foe? I'm Thinking Foe

The garden is coasting its way through September.

Still Simmering

The majority of the garden is starting to show its age, but there are still plenty of fruits left on the plants to steadily harvest until the cold arrives.

Major Haul

The garden went crazy while I was away. It was incredibly nice to come back to such abundance. As an added bonus it looks like I caught all the hornworm caterpillars. I was fully expecting to come back to at least one devoured plant, but no. No more plant damage!

No News Is Good News

Nothing exciting to report. Just watering and harvesting my way through  summer. No aphids, which I find somewhat unbelievable, but I'll take it. No more tomato hornworms. The Lil Keeper melon plants have a mild spider mite problem, but all of the fruits are close to maturity so I'm not worried about it. And besides the Beaverlodge tomato plant no signs of disease. This summer is turning out to be the most uneventful growing season I've ever had on the roof. Let's hope its stays that way!

Unwanted Garden Visitor

Daily monitoring has caught a pest in the garden, but otherwise the rooftop crops are doing well. Right now I'm watering every 3rd day, which is much nicer than watering every single day. Compact plants growing in containers with large water reservoirs is definitely the way to go for a relatively low maintenance rooftop vegetable garden. Depending on the temperature I can sometimes get away with watering every 4th day, but I prefer to err on the side of caution and stick to watering every 3rd day.

My only problem happens during the week, when I sometimes forget if I watered on the previous Sunday or the previous Saturday, which means the plants sometimes get watered every 4th day instead of every 3rd. 4th day watering is only a problem when there's been a string of consecutive hot days (high 80's or 90's). I can tell I've made this mistake when I come back from work and find wilted eggplant leaves. The large leaves of the eggplant make it very easy to notice if they're wilting. I've done this only a couple of times though so there's been no lasting side effects to the garden.

Trickling In

The summer crops are beginning to trickle in. First it was the eggplant, now it's the cherry tomatoes. What will be next? Personally, I'm hoping for a watermelon.

Cracks in the Calm Facade

The long weekend allowed me to take a break from the garden and return to it with fresh eyes.

Sitting Pretty

The garden is still doing great. I continue to keep an eye on the corn and one tomato plant looks a little stressed, but other than that the garden looks really good. Lots of plants have already fruited, including all the tomato plants!

Still Here!

Not much has changed since the last post. All the tomato plants are still on the roof. Overnight temps have been creeping into the 40's so I've been keeping my eye on the weather forecasts so I can be ready to remove the remaining fruits in case frost hits.

Endless Summer?

Can you believe this weather? We're almost halfway into October and I'm not even wearing a jacket yet, just a cardigan. I'm not complaining mind you, I just think it's a little weird.

Plants Hanging On

I'm surprised by how many plants are still growing on the roof. Usually by this time of year I'm down to 1 vegetable plant from the summer, this year I have 5. I wonder how long they'll last, will some make it to frost or will I breakdown before then and cut them down?

Whittling Down

Another week passes and a few more plants are retired from the garden.

What Will the Cool Weather Do to the Garden

While the days are still pleasant evenings are getting chilly on the roof. Cooler weather means the garden can go longer between waterings, but it also means vegetable production noticeably slows down as well.

What's Left

Ok, back from vacation and back to gardening! So what's alive and what's gone?

The Beginning of the End

With August winding down so too is the rooftop garden. The Serenade melon plants were retired, On Deck corn plants were removed and I think the pepper plants will be next. The tomato plants are hanging on, I think a couple will last till frost.

Melons On the Way

The tomato harvest is sadly winding down. I'm already missing my daily tomato snack, but other crops are stepping up to take its place.

Gardening Highs and Lows

A few surprises in the garden this week. One bad, some good and one great!

Tomatoes and More on the Way

The harvest is picking up. All varieties of tomatoes, 1 pepper and 1 corn ear were harvested this week. Melons, potatoes and soybeans will be ready in the coming weeks.