Well I finally had to throw in the towel with the garden. The tomatoes were still trying to produce but the vines were all dying. I tried covering the plants for some of the really cold nights we had but I knew it would only prolong the production a little bit. Winter is coming no matter what the tomatoes say!
So I officially stripped out everything edible that I could find and boy was that a lot! I even came across 3 tiny and odd looking cucumbers that were hiding and made my apologies to the squash plants. They are still attempting to flower but the tiny squashes I left on a watch and see basis are just not growing at all. My guess is it's been too cold and they just aren't getting enough sun anymore. But they put out a great effort this year and I'm sorry to see it end.
This years garden has been the best I've ever had since buying this house. Every year I jockey various plants around to different areas in the hope of getting the best set up for optimal growth. But honestly I don't think starting positions (see what I did there? ties in with 'jockey'...ha ha) had much to do with it. I think the warm summer combined with lots of rain and my organic plant food did the trick. In any case I'm hoping to do it all again next year...and I'll still be changing where everybody is standing too. The beans and peas were completely overshadowed by the tomatoes this year and the pepper plants were struggling to be noticed too. Of course who would have guessed those tomato plants would get that big?? I actually had to start improvising ways to keep them standing because the plants got so big they outgrew every form of support I put out there.
For now all that's left to do is strip away the tomato supports; rip out all the dead plants and remove the small exterior fence. Last year I neglected to completely clear the garden. In other words I got lazy. Well I paid for that when the spring came and I had tons of work to do before it could be tilled. I've learned my lesson. Clear the bed before the winters' sleep. :)
