Garden Photo of the Day

Celebrate the Last Harvests of Summer

A Canadian gardener shares some of her harvest-season beauties

Niki Jabbour, the veggie-gardening wizard (and author of several terrific books on gardening) from Halifax, Nova Scotia, sent in these gorgeous photos of her last of the summer harvests from the garden. We’ve seen her garden here before, and in usual Niki-style, her vegetables are as beautiful as they are delicious-looking.

Who knew slices of tomatoes could be works of art? The fluted beauties in the photo below are Florentine Beauty (yellow) and Costoluto Genovese (red). With so many varieties of tomatoes to choose from, why settle for boring-looking ones? Varieties like these are a visual as well as a literal feast.

An array of colorful, diverse tomatoes. The last harvest of tomatoes at the end of the summer, right before frost, is always precious—the last chance to revel in summer’s bounty before the arrival of winter!

 

This lovely corn is called ‘Glass Gem’ for the brilliant, diverse colors of the kernels. ‘Glass Gem’ is primarily grown as an ornamental, but it is a variety of popcorn, so the kernels can be popped (though, unfortunately, the interior of the kernel is white, so you lose the amazing colors after popping), or you can grind them up for cornmeal. If you grow this or other ornamental corns and want to save seeds, remember that the color of each individual kernel is determined by its genes. So when saving seeds, be sure to pick out the individual seeds that have the colors you like best to grow the next year.

 

What says fall harvest more than pumpkins? This beautiful variety is an old French heirloom called the Cinderella pumpkin, or Rouge vif d’Etampes. In addition to being beautiful, it is a good eating variety, particularly in soups.

 

Niki grows just a few different squashes and pumpkins! Perfect for autumnal decoration, many of these make for delicious eating and will store perfectly well through the winter.

 

 

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Comments

  1. User avater
    meander_michaele 10/25/2018

    I share your enthusiasm for the undulating edges of those special varieties of tomatoes...they are so fascinating and fun looking. Is there anything unique about their taste? Hmmm, I've never before thought of corn as charismatic but the super colorful 'Glass Gem' is positively captivating...like peering through an old fashioned kaleidoscope..

  2. User avater
    treasuresmom 10/25/2018

    I am planning to grow glass gem corn next year. I can't wait.

  3. Sunshine111 10/25/2018

    Gorgeous and stunningly beautiful ?

  4. btucker9675 10/25/2018

    WOW!!!! Now all I need are those tomatoes, some sea salt and good balsamic vinegar and I'll be set for a delicious meal. : )
    Thank you for these stunning photos.

  5. [email protected] 10/25/2018

    On our to-do list: fence off the tomato bed! Deer/elk destroyed them this year for the first time- also zuchinni- was feeling smug that this hasn't happened before, but seeing these beauties makes me even more determined to be successful!

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