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A reader reminded me that I hadn't shown what the garden looks like in a while. When I look at this photo I see the cucumber vines on the trellis that I should have pulled weeks ago and the poor melon vines that got downy mildew and I didn't do anything about in the same row I need to get some cover crop seed this week and pull the dead plants and seed to protect the soil from erosion and weeds.
I do seem some good here too. I do see the cold frame filling out with greens, and the Brussels Sprouts looking good. The peppers and eggplants are still lush. You can't see them, but my fall peas have sprouted along with radishes. The pumpkin vines resisted the downy mildew and have spread into the grass as the pumpkins ripen.
Hiding in the back are my tomatoes. The ones that fell in August and were tied back up are suffering from leaf spot and dying back but the tomatoes continue to ripen. The frame is crooked and rigged to stay up until the end of the season. Next year we'll need a stronger frame.
So are beautiful and ugly parts to the garden right now. There is work to be done and I hope I get to it. And the garden continues to produce.
The tomatoes continue to ripen, but slower now with the cooler nights. This week I harvested 14 pounds of tomatoes. I'm not canning any more, but rather am freezing them whole for use in soups and sauces this winter.I also picked kale and a few carrots. 
I also harvested my second eggplant. There are a few more that may mature before the season is over. In all, the eggplants weren't much of a success this year with only 2 so far from 6 plants.
I shelled the dried beans that I picked last week and weighed them. They were just over a pound.
I also harvested my first and probably only sweet red pepper. There are some green ones on the plant finally, but they don't have time to ripen.
Ripe winter squashes were harvested and set on the front porch to cure. I picked 25 pounds of buttercup, butternut, and Delicata squash. I also picked one 15 pound Jarradale pumpkin. There are 3 more Jarradale pumpkins that are not yet ripe, as well as a few butternut squash that are still developing. There are also about 6 pie pumpkins that are turning orange and I hope to pick soon.
Sunday night's harvest was at dusk, hence the flash in the photo. I picked 2 oz of arugula and spinach to make a pesto, along with tomatoes and 2 very small melons. The tomatoes are all larger then the melons.
I picked the melons because they smelled ripe, though they only the size of tennis balls. The larger one tasted alright, but the smaller one was bitter. I hope to do much better with melons next year.
Total this week: 58.48 pounds
Total this year: 297.7 pounds
You can see what other gardeners harvested this week at Daphne's Dandelions.
The goldfinches were the first to enjoy the sunflower seeds but I have yet to get a good photo of them doing so. Last week while I was weeding, I kept hearing a "thump, thump, thump". I found a downy woodpecker enjoying the sunflower seeds. He was rather enthralled and allowed me to stand a few feet away to take his picture eating the seeds.
Lately I've also seen the chickadees enjoying the seeds too. I'm glad there are so many visitors to my garden.
This week was a clean up week in the garden. Earlier in the week I cleared the squash vines and harvested the remaining butternut squash, another 5 pounds. I also picked the remaining pie pumpkins. I pulled down the tomatillos to make room for an experimental hoop house (more on that in another post). I picked my one and only red cabbage. All the others didn't form heads so I pulled them. They'd been in the ground since early May.
This weekend brought the threat of frost so the last of the pumpkins came in. With the pie pumpkins from earlier in the week they totaled 52 pounds. The largest of the Jarradale's was 15 pounds. 
The heavy rain had taken a toll on the tomato supports and the tomatoes, and with the threat of frost, I picked the remaining viable fruit. The ones with any color went into my harvest total. (9 pounds) The green ones will get added as they ripen.
Other harvests this week include one eggplant, pepper, and bok choy for a stir-fry.
Also arugula, beets, and chard.
