Harvest, Late Bean Crop, Planning for Next Year

With the weather being very dry for the last few weeks, I made a trip out to the plot to water earlier this evening.  Unfortunately, the hose died very near the sprayer due to development of a split.  Thankfully, I had a Swiss Army knife with me.  I cut off the end and proceeded to just use my thumb to diffuse the water stream when I needed to.  Considering the hose was pretty cheap (both cost and quality) when we bought it a few years (3?) ago, I'm not surprised at the failure.

As far as the harvest is concerned, the tomatoes continue to enjoy their resurgence.  I also was happy to finally pull some carrots.  One, in particular, looked very good.  It is (likely a "was" now since I think The Boy was going to have it with his lunch today) approx 4" long and around 1/2" in diameter.  It was so nice that I had to take a picture.

The harvest totals for today were:

• 1 lb 15.3 oz tomatoes
• 1.4 oz beans (mostly from the late planted crop)
• One 4" long carrot, four small carrots
• 43 ground cherries
• 0.3 oz cayenne peppers

In looking at the picture above, the tomato in the bottom right doesn't seem to belong.  Well, it's a volunteer.  In talking to Wifey, we think that it may have been one of the infamous (in her family, anyway) "Robbins Avenue Tomatoes" that are known due to her grandfather supposedly having manually cross-pollinated tomatoes for quite some time (30 years?) to try to create and keep only the largest tomatoes.  They also tend to grow exceptionally tall (7' is the norm).

Also noting in the top harvest picture above is that it shows 4 sizes/types of tomatoes.  The Romas and the single medium-sized were intentional (San Marzano and Old Virginia) that I planted this year.  The smallest and largest were volunteers from last year.

Notes to review as I plan for next year.  
1. When I finally pulled the last bed of snow peas, I decided to try planting a late crop of beans just out of idle curiosity.  I figured it was too late in the season for them to do much, but thought it was worth a shot.  Well, they're actually producing.  I never really helped them out by trellising, fertilizing, or applying the bug dust early on -- I only have been watering since planting them -- but other than some Mexican Bean Beetle damage, they're doing pretty well.

In the offseason, I'll be working on a plan to figure out when/where to try for a late bean crop next year.  I need to identify a crop that I'll be pulling out of a box in late June to then put in a late crop of beans for late in the season.

2. I also need to remember to try to plant carrots and radishes I intend to harvest separately once the tomatoes and peppers get established.  Not enough sun gets to those crops to do good underplanting.