Beans, Peas, Root Vegetables and Saving Seeds

One of the darkest sunflowers I've ever grown 

Hints of Fall are starting to show around the garden. Some plants are beginning to look dull and tired, others have stopped producing in order to ripen green fruits and a few are still going strong, trying to produce as much as possible before first frost.

Here is the garden this week 

Most of the Hutterite and a few of the Good Mother Stallard soup beans were dried and ready for picking this week. I am extremely pleased with the productivity of the beans this year. There will be enough for several pots of soup this fall and winter

The Rio Zape bean plants are so vigorous that they have spilled over the edge of the garden bed and are climbing up the trellis meant for the pole beans 

The Greasy  beans are finally producing. As if to make up for taking their time the vines  are loaded with beans. I should have plenty for fresh eating and drying for soups

The Fall peas are about 6 inches tall now and growing well. I'll likely blanch and freeze most of them for later use

The Fall carrots and parsnips are coming along well. They will be sweeter after a couple of frosts and will be used in soups, stews and muffins

The potato plants had mostly died back so I started to dig them. I quickly discovered that many of them were partly eaten by evil rodents. This years crop was experimental in that I replanted the seed potatoes as I dug up the crop last Fall rather than plant in Spring like usual. The crop is small both in numbers and size, so saving energy by Fall planting is not worth it.

Scented nasturtium 

Hutterite soup beans 

Dry tomato seeds

Seed saving time is here. Since I grow primarily heirlooms I save seeds each year for the following season. Most are easily shaken out of dried pods or off dried flower heads. Some though, like tomatoes, must be fermented to remove debris and trigger chemical reactions that increase/preserve the seed's viability

Weekly Harvest: 

53 pounds 12 ounces tomatoes 

12 ounces cucumbers

3 ounces peppers 

2 pounds 8 ounces beans 

2 pounds dried beans 

Yearly Total: 

595 pounds 8 ounces