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First Harvest, Finally!! (Long Version)

Square Foot Gardening List - http://myweb.flinet.com/~gallus/sqft.html

It has been an unusually cool summer here in Wisconsin, and this is also my
first summer so far north.  After gardening for 21 years in tropical Texas,
northern gardening has been a constant learning process.  Today--finally--I
made my first decent harvest.  Tonight's dinner includes haricot verts
steamed with lemon rind and butter, eggplant casserole ( stewed eggplant
with stuffing mix, onions, peppers, sage and more baked with a sharp cheddar
cheese topping), yellow crookneck squash steamed with red sweet peppers,
carrots and a sprinkling of lemon thyme and rhubarb crisp. Oh, yes, a
grilled chicken breast, too, for the meat-eating husband.  All, but the
chicken and cheese came from the garden!!

I have gobs of big tomatoes and more setting on 12 foot plants.  Our first
freeze can come in early Oct. or even late Sept., I'm told.  So I topped the
plants last night.  I cut off about 1/4 of the growth, cut off all leaders
and tied up the remaining, sprawling vines.  I did this last year in
Springfield, IL, too (my first year north), and all the tomatoes on the
plants ripened.  Because I use mycorrhizal fungi, the tomato plants always
have a huge set.  The Brandywine has 49 tomatoes set already before I topped
it last night.  The oldest looks like its about 1-1/2 lbs. and my guess is
that it will ripen in about 14 days.  Also, the Jenny Lind melons finally
started to do something. They are flowering and hopefully will set fruit.
It takes 60 days from flower set to get a ripe melon, and I want one before
the frost.  Corn is pokey, too.  It flowered, dropped pollen, etc, but the
earwigs ate off all the silks from developing ears before I got diatomaceous
earth on the plants.  The ears are fleshing out, though.  And, finally, the
Waltham butternut squash is setting.  There are 4 big ones on the vines and
gobs of huge flowers every day.  I love this winter squash, because it
stores so well, and I can eat it well into January if I grow enough.  I
usually store them in the basement.  And, I also use a couple for autumn
arrangements, along with mini pumpkins, turban head squash, Indian corn and
fall leaves.  We eat those squash first, since they are not stored in a
dark, cool area.

Sorry I've rambled on, but I'm just so thrilled to finally get something
from the garden.  Any growing tips from you way-north gardeners would be
appreciated so that I don't have to wait so long next year.  Also, is it too
late to start broccoli and mini-cauliflower transplants for fall this far
north?  I have a hoop house that goes over a 4 X 4 bed to extend the season
a bit.
Doreen Howard
Zone 4b
Janesville, WI


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