Big and Small

First, the 'Big'...massive butternut squash / crookneck pumpkins have been the main story the past few weeks in the garden.  I think there are
two varieties in the picture above.  The four squash on the outside seem to be waltham butternuts, and the five in the middle more resemble crooknecks. Bell peppers are in the center, a late season treat.

Here's the 'Small'...on the right are tiny tomatillos, and on the left are Mexican sour gherkins.  I find it interesting that these typically warm-season crops are doing well and producing in mid-October. I'd planted the gherkins in the same bed as my pickling and lemon cucumbers.  The cukes took the bed over and I thought the gherkins died.  Now the cukes are long gone, but tomatillos and gherkins are thriving.  And weeds.  Plenty of weeds.

Here there's winter squash, watermelons, green beans, carrots, cherry tomatoes, and habanero peppers.

More of those in this harvest along with a bunch of banana peppers.

Bok choy, butternuts, habaneros, another huge harvest of green beans, and cherry tomatoes.  The fat greenish butternut on the right came off the vine a while back and never changed color.  I suspect it won't be as mature and sweet as the others.  This was my harvest yesterday, October 12.  I am super impressed by the vitality of our Kentucky Wonder pole beans.  They just keep on going.  The vines have more blossoms on them.

Our pecan trees are dropping nuts.  I try to walk under them every day to score pecans before the squirrels find them.  The squirrels are winning, but we'll wind up with enough for a couple pies.

Figs are slowly ripening.  I've harvested perhaps 8 or 9 of them so far.  This is a Brown Turkey Fig above, along with some more sour gherkins.

We love figs, especially when they are ultra-ripe with honey-sweet centers.  The gherkins are also delicious.  Like figs, they are usually eaten the moment they are picked.