The summer vegetable garden hasn't come to an end yet, as shown by the (random) vegetable flowers interspersed in this post. Still, it's winding down, so now seems like a good time to report on the varieties I attempted to grow this year.
I grew everything from seed except the Serrano pepper, which was purchased at Lowe's.
Lemon Cucumber (1): Vine was large and fairly productive. Cucumbers were
delicious, especially when harvested before they turned bright yellow. I only ate these raw. Vine eventually succumbed to bacterial wilt, but appeared to be somewhat resistant. A keeper.
Sumter Cucumber (2): Grown for pickling and salads. Unfortunately, vines were infected with wilt quickly and I only harvested one small, deformed cucumber from two vines!
Black Krim Tomato (4): Delicious medium-sized tomato, resistant to cracking. Fairly productive. Vines were last to succumb to disease. Tomatoes were good raw and cooked in
tomato tart. Will definitely grow again.
Yellow Pear Tomato (6): Huge plants, very early and very prolific. Tomatoes were good, but not nearly as good as the tart Clementines I grew last year. Better cooked (roasted in oven with other veggies or heated through in cream-based pasta sauce) than raw.
Beefsteak Tomato (2): Harvested approximately 4 tomatoes from two huge plants. Tomatoes were good-tasting, but not exceptional or unique in flavor. Vines were first to succumb to disease. Not impressed.
Cherry Peppers (
1 red; 1 chocolate): These tiny plants took a long time to get established and start producing. The peppers are slightly spicy, not sweet like colored bell peppers. They would be good to use as appetizers, stuffed with some kind of dip, but they are so tiny that seeding them is a pain. Probably best for ornamental use.
California Wonder Bell Peppers (8): Slow to start producing, but going strong from late summer into fall. Typical green bell pepper flavor (I haven’t let any turn red). Plants were visibly boosted by a side-dressing of compost after fruit set. Plants are tall, requiring staking, and have had no problems with insects or disease.
Early Long Purple Eggplant (6): It took ages (and bottom heat) to get the eggplant seeds to germinate and grow into decent-sized plants, but it was worth it. The plants are problem-free (though they seem happier staked), and the eggplants are tender and tasty, especially when harvested young. They have produced steadily from mid- to late summer through fall.
Contender Bush Beans (1 pkt.): My first time growing beans, and I definitely picked the right variety. These plants were care-free and the beans were plentiful and delicious. They produced for a couple of months with regular picking.
Shallots: I planted my shallot sets too deep. They multiplied, but not much. I’m going to be replanting the best sets soon.
Yellow Squash/Zucchini: Borers killed every single squash plant before a single squash came to fruition. I’m done with summer squash.
Serrano Pepper (1): The one plant has been completely problem-free, and has produced what seems like hundreds of peppers! It produced consistently through the summer heat and is still going strong in the cool fall.
Hope this is helpful to someone. Have a great week!
-Ginger
I have many more peppers of the same size, but am trying to be patient and let them turn colors/get sweet!
From ground level, working a few feet away, I saw these pods in the middle of the plant. What are these things?
From the same vantage point, I noticed something strange on the underside of a large branch of one of our trees:
Here is a close-up. I'm almost afraid to learn what this is. We have about 10 of these trees separating our and our neighbor's yards. 
Anyway, we also took care of the first round of fallen leaves, and used up 99% of the rock remaining from the pond project this weekend. AND we added fish to the pond! Two small comets and a shubunkin (or as I, the cat-lover like to call it, a calico fish). They are still acting really shy, but supposedly that is normal. I'll post pictures of the rock projects and the fishies soon. Have a great week! 
