Farewell to Finny Farm...

Yeah, so I've been lamenting the :::sob::: End of Summer and, in fact, today is the Autumnal Equinox.  So I am "celebrating" it with a Sugar-Free Margarita at the Tiki Bar!

And actually, today was a very pleasant day with temps in the mid-80's, and hubs even uncovered the pool and dove in!

Princess Annie even joined-in on the Floatie-Pool Action!

But anyway...  This IS a Garden-Post, after all!  So back on point:  I had wandered back to the garden, earlier this week, and realized that things were starting to "flounder" (moreso than usual!).

I know I've b*tched (more than once) about how "Suck-tastic" my garden was, this year.  Well, the suckiness is even MORE obvious as we reach the end of the season  :::sigh:::

The Finny-Farm, unfortunately, was the Floundery-iest of all.  It's at the "end of the line" on one of our drip-lines and NO quantity of water would help it.  Super-Sad-Face :-(((

Finny-Farm Bed :-(((((

Sooooo...  I ripped it out today.

• Colin-Copia (left-rear-corner) started out getting Blossom-End-Rot (never had a problem with that before), but I did harvest a few 'maters off of that plant today.  Confusingly enough - I don't think Colin-Copia was a Copia at all - but some kinda "generic" cherry tomato (srsly!).  Not a beefsteak.  Not mottled.  Just a plain ol' slightly-orange-ish cherry tomato (but tasty - don't get me wrong!).  
• Brandy the Yellow Brandywine, likewise, got afflicted with the dreaded Blossom-End-Rot and I didn't harvest ANYTHING from her!  
• Stephanie Stupice - barely visible in the front-right corner:  She produced admirably at the beginning of the season (far earlier than anyone else), but she fizzled-out around late-July.  Bummer! 
• New Variety Indigo-Rose (not really visible in this pic) was in the rear, right corner.  That one won the QT-Award for sheer quantity.  I got a whole SLEW of slightly-larger-than cherry tomatoes in a dark (almost black) color.  But, by this morning, the plant was mostly dead...

I had also planted a squash (long-since dead), and two peppers (that produced NADA).  The peppers were still "hangin' in there" as of this morning, but no signs of flowers and not a chance-in-hell of ever getting any peppers...  And, in the center, my "volunteer" peach-tree - which turned-out to be from the rootstock of Roger's Yellow Peach-Tree (can't recall the variety).  The rootstock peaches are "barely edible" so, Long-Story-Short:  It is HISTORY!

I did manage to salvage a few 'maters from the plants before I ripped 'em out:

Black/Red in the foreground came from Indigo Rose
Orangy-Reddish in the rear came from Colin Copia

(Clearly NOT a Copia - but that's okay!)

So here is the Finny Farm as of this afternoon:

:::GASP::: Empty!

I did get to use my Tractor-Scoot, prezzie from Beloved Hubs:

I ♥ my Tractor Scoot!

Back on the subject of the Finny Farm, I had rigged-up my PlantCam to take a Time-Lapse video of the Finny Farm in Action.  Unfortunately, the PlantCam seems to have crapped-out.  I've got the individual jpgs, but have to find some video-editing software to string 'em all together.  So that video will be coming - later!

I also took at gander at the other two beds.  Artie-The-Choke is gone (but he left babies behind).  The 'maters in that bed...?  Well, Early-Girl still has a couple of greenies on her, but not sure if they'll ripen before the weather gets too chilly.  Nevertheless, I'll leave her alone, for now.

And the Paste-O-Rama bed?  

Home of the "Volunteer" Kellogg's Breakfast Tomato - tall plant in the back

(Winner, this year, for sheer tonnage!)

Yeah, the Paste-O-Rama bed is definitely still "hangin' in there" with lots of green tomatoes which, hopefully, will ripen soon!  I'm leaving that bed alone, for now.

And, surprisingly, I do see some Paste Babies *finally* showing some signs of life:

Speckled Roma - Tomatoes #2 & 3

Better late than never, right?

And a freaky-lookin' Jersey Devil...

Amish Paste and San Marzano did *NOTHING* this year.  So my hopes of making and preserving GALLONS of pasta sauce never came to fruition.  "Oh, well!"

Anyway, I figure clearing ONE bed was productive enough for one day!  

Maybe tomorrow (maybe later next week), I'll start amending the beds, and seeding for my "Cool-Season Garden."  I'm planning on attempting more cabbages, and kohl crops.  Beets were kinda fun, last spring.  I also attempted turnips (but I don't think I harvested anything!).  And I'll definitely plan on planting something "Nitrogen-fixing" - most likely Sugar-Snap Peas...

And I'll do lettuce and spinach in my Patio-Planters again (closer to the back-door, and more likely to be harvested for dinner-salads, right?!)

Anyway...  On the one hand, it's sad to see the Summer-Garden go.  But, on the other hand, it'll be interesting to see if I have BETTER luck with the fall garden this year...

Soooooo....  That's the Latest from QT's Garden.  Fingers crossed that I can get a step-closer to a year-round garden, right?! (If not, there's always the Farm-Share!!!)