Hi Garden People! I hope you are all doing well! I’ve not had an opportunity to be at the garden regularly for the last month or so; I miss you all and miss the plants! But I did stop by for a bit today to check on a few things and wander around to see how things are growing.

We’re in transition again, moving from the summer crops to the fall crops. There’s a beautiful bed of broccoli that is growing nicely, radishes that are being harvested now, some kale, collards and lettuce that are inching taller. I love all those fall crops, and after a long, hot summer, cooler weather is always welcome. Workdays continue on Saturday from 8-11 for now, and also on Tuesdays from 5-7. I hope you (and I) will be able to make the garden a regular part of our schedules again!

While we are in transition to fall crops, we do still have some summer crops that are producing a little bit, including peas, beans, tomatoes, squash and eggplant. And peppers. Good gracious, we could have supplied the entire town of Apex with peppers this summer and still had some to spare! We have sweet bell peppers, jalapeños, sweet banana and cubanelle peppers that are still going strong. Come out and take a bunch home with you next workday!

The eggplant is still producing, but it’s taking a hit from the eggplant lace bug. These little critters are eating the leaves up and perhaps slowing down production more than typical end-of-season. Since the cold weather will not kill them, it seemed wise to make a pre-emptive strike and spray the plants with Neem oil. Neem is certified safe for organic crops and was sprayed on the eggplant this evening. While you’re supposed to be able to harvest crops same day as Neem is sprayed, I don’t feel comfortable following that guideline. And given that there really aren’t large fruit on the vines right now, we’re going to skip harvesting eggplant on Tuesday and wait til next Saturday. There’s a makeshift sign on the fence by the gate that will hopefully last til Tuesday; if you come with your children, please make sure they understand to skip that bed. Thank you!

I was just looking at the garden web site (www.simplegiftsgarden.org) and see that we’ve donated 861 pounds so far this year to Western Wake Crisis Ministry; how awesome is that! When selecting your vegetables to take home on workdays, please remember to leave enough for other workers that day, and also so that we can make our contribution to WWCM. Thank you for investing your time and expertise in the garden so that we can make a real difference to our neighbors in need!

Blessings to you all,

Sandra