Pitifully small and shockingly late, I had my first harvest yesterday. I picked two small 8-ball zuchinnis which were promptly sauteed in a little olive oil and happily eaten. They were excellent- I do love that variety so very much.
Things are finally turning into summer around here, though we are still having 60s in the evenings (even got down to 50-something last week!). Cool weather isn’t so bad as long as we are seeing sun, and we’ve had some beautiful sunny days recently. Hopefully that will crank everything into high-growing gear. My cukes and eggplants are shockingly tiny, and I have only three little sad okra plants that are barely hanging on. I fully expect them to die at any moment.
The only thing that’s been loving this weather are my potatoes, which are doing great. (Well, at least I think so- I’ve never grown them before!) So far I’ve been lucky to avoid late blight, which is taking a toll on lots of people right now, even some of my neighbors. I did have to pull off a few leaves which were getting eaten down by Colorado Potato Beetle larvae. I’ve heard that some other farms around us are having pretty bad infestations, so I feel pretty lucky that what I’ve seen in mild. I’m told that nothing they are attracted to has been growing up on my hill in a few years, so maybe that’s why, but I don’t really care, honestly! I’m just happy not to see many of them, not in the least because they are the nastiest looking bugs ever. I literally did the heebie-jeebie dance after I pulled of a few leaves. I don’t get grossed out by bugs very often, but yikes.
For those of you that have been suffering through this bleak summer, I hope everything is growing well for you!
Surviving (on) Massachusetts 