Gathering enough greens for a dinner salad qualifies as a harvest since in late summer greens must be grown in part shade, coddled and watered well. To the ‘Lollo Rossa’ lettuce, French sorrel and arugula I added the last cucumber, some ‘Baby Belle’ red peppers and purple bush beans.

It is the season of small harvests. Three of my four raised beds are prepped for fall planting after the tomatoes, corn, cucumbers and zucchini finished. In one bed the climbing honey nut butternut squash turn the seasonal orange and in another, the ‘Emerite’ pole beans set seed.

I deem the weather too warm to set out transplants or direct seed winter crops. There are likely dry Santa Ana winds and high temperatures yet to come this month. Growing up in SoCal, the heat seemed to come just as we returned to school after Labor Day.

I harvested the last of the ‘Sugar Pearl’ corn. These two ears were small but just as sweet and tender as the first ones. Four late season scruffy ears went for corn fritters.

I wait patiently for ‘Red Beauty’ to transform but these very large bell peppers (1.5 pounds total) were good candidates to chop and freeze. The pepper branches sometimes break under the load of large fruit so I selectively remove some for winter soups.

But even in late summer, the vegetable garden produces flowers for a bouquet. The zinnias bloom with abandon and the feverfew are faithful for three seasons. Add in flowers from the garlic chives and the parsley and there’s a bouquet to enjoy as September begins.

You may enjoy seeing what other garden bloggers harvested last week at Harvest Monday hosted by Dave at Our Happy Acres.

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