Well This Is Interesting

I don't know what Lee was doing in the bastard garden while I was harvesting veggies, but he called me over to find this:

Yes, that's a tire in the middle of the place where we've been composting leaves.  Apparently a few treads were sticking out of the ground and Lee dug it up pretty easily.  I'm not sure what that means for our composting leaves or how it escaped notice until now.  We're growing our potatoes in soil from that area (right about where Lee's feet are), is it going to be unsafe to eat them?  Because you know we're eating them regardless.  Also unexpected, but a much nicer surprise, is the self-sown edible ornamental peppers that are popping up all over the place.  Here, in the gravel driveway, they're actually flowering:

 

I don't know that I would have spotted this tomato horn worm without the bracnoid wasp cocoons all over it:

 

It was on one of the Black Russian tomato plants, so we cut off the branch it had already stripped and moved the whole thing to the driveway, where Lee reported it died the following day (though it traveled about a yard before expiring):

 

I pulled all the carrots (and included my freshly pedicured foot in the photo for scale).  We were really disappointed by the small carrots which were kind of bitter.  But tasty enough cooked with some dill and butter:

That might be the last cucumber (this was Friday's harvest), but we'll definitely have another harvest or two of beans:

 

I was so excited to find the lilac peppers turning red on Friday:

 

One was no good due to some sort of rot or ickiness, but the other joined a huge harvest of tomatoes today (golden oregano is for the frittata we had planned for supper, which is also why I harvested the pepper, but will actually be tomorrow's supper instead):

 

So the raised veggie bed has the dying cucumbers, some basil, and a lot of nasturtiums left:

 

Now I need to decide what kind of fall crops I'm going to try this year.  Our first frost is usually late October or early November and I'm not afraid to try and push it with blankets, nor am I afraid to lose crops.  I'm definitely going to do some kale and spinach, but I also think I'll try some zucchini even though there's probably not enough time left.  The package says 55 days to harvest so even if I give them an extra 5 days for the weaker fall sun, that still would mean zucchini in mid-October.  Beets, carrots, and radishes for sure.  Any suggestions?

Comments

[Blackswampgirl Kim]

OMG! A whole tire dug out of the ground? That beats my dug-up crowbar by a large amount, lol.

Those braconid wasps are very cool--and your tomato hornworm is amazing full of them. Seriously, it reminds me of those Snowcaps that are rolled in the white dots across the top.

I'm drooling over your lilac peppers. Had I know that they would turn red, I'd totally have tried some this year. *pouting*

[Jim/ArtofGardening.org]

I'm sure that tire, when it was planted was the size of a Matchbox car tire and because of your incredible gardening acumen and home-made compost, it grew full-size.

[Jan]

I think it's fascinating to find mystery stuff in your garden. I have found old cables probably from the time this area was a farm 40 years ago. And the little pottery projects of past residents. We found a pretty sad looking clay scarecrow (sunken cheeks and enormous feet)and psychotic clay mouse.

I am amazed (and yes, grossed out) by the work of the brachnoid wasp. Did you and Lee notice if the pupa hatched? The thought of becoming liquid lunch to a parasite stirs up all sorts of horrible visions. None the less, yeah brachnoids!

[meemsnyc]

Wow, a whole tire! We pulled some weird things out of our garden when we tilled it this spring. Mirrors, faucets, you name it! The tire should be fine I'm guessing since I've seen people use tires for growing potatoes in. http://www.kiddiegardens.com/growing_potatoes_in_tires.html

I love the colors of those peppers! Really cool! I've never seen lilac peppers in person before. Do they taste like the Red / Orange / Yellow Bells?

[Kristi]

You vegetables are mouth watering. The pepper plants were especially gorgeous.

[Heather's Garden]

Kim -- I'm not sure it beats the car radiator or rusted truck frame we found in the same spot over the years.

Jim -- You gave me a laugh that was the only bright spot on a day that had me tied to the computer working for the better part of 12 hours!

Jan -- I think your found pottery would freak me out. None of the pupa had hatched when I checked this afternoon and the worm was not moving much anymore -- Lee was wrong about it being dead.

Meems -- The tire is actually a whole wheel, but Lee reminded me of all the metal we've taken out of that area over the years, so it's not like it's any worse than it already was really. And yes, the lilac peppers which start purple ripen to red and taste like any other sweet bell pepper.

Kristi -- Thanks, we're very pleased by the veggie garden output this year!