Late-Summer Tomato Variety and Pepper Review

Reader Contribution by Kurt Jacobson
Published on September 15, 2016
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A magnificent swallowtail butterfly greeted me as I entered my backyard for watering today. This was such a nice gift from nature on what might be the hottest day of the month. Each year is different in my little veggie patch out back. As the summer heat fades, some plants in my garden are refreshed and sport new growth while other plants wither and die.

This year, an addition to my gardening routine was the arrival of Sophie, a 9-week-old German shepherd pup on July 9th. I placed a tie-down close to my garden so I could watch her while I watered, weeded, and harvested. As time went on, I let Sophie in the fenced-in part of the garden with me. She would stay out of my raised beds most of the time, and we had fun weeding together. I’d pull the weeds and toss them to her for inspection. It was big fun for both of us.

Now that we are into the month of September, much is changing in the veggie patch. Most of my cucumbers are done and browned leaves show where they thrived for July and August. Several times, I would find very large cucumbers that hid from view. These were perfect for Chilled Cucumber Soup.

I also had a good run of green beans of the bush variety. They are now long gone and the pole beans have just started producing well this week. Whenever I pick the green beans, I toss one to Sophie who loves chewing on them and it keeps her occupied for 5 minutes or so. If you have never tried giving your dog green beans, it’s worth a try. A friend of mine who is a holistic veterinarian told me they are good for dogs.

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