Later summer garden

... well, my spring garden was beautiful and productive.. my mid summer.. not so much. It was so dry and hot, despite my daily watering, the poor garden suffered and produced little. Then we started to get rain.. and things sprung back to life. Just NOW I am getting baby watermelons, and the butternut squash plants that had produced only one squash all summer suddenly sprung forth with babies that got as big as the early summer on in just a matter of a few weeks. Therefore, I am solidly ignoring advice I read somewhere to pinch the babies off at this time of the year to encourage the growth of the older ones.



So, just this morning I went out and cleaned out a few stragly squared, added my own compost (for the first time!), and planted turnips, 2 varieties of beets, 2 varieties of kale, and mustard greens. I am hoping it is not too late in the season. I had found lettuce plugs a week ago, and set them out several days ago.



My parsnips are really bushy.. though I don't wan't too early of a frost, I am waiting for it to taste those parsnips!



My potatoes plants have almost completely died back.. but I am not sure how died back they should be before I dig potatoes.



And my tomatoes, which grew so slowly, just now are finally starting to ripen.



How has the over all garden been doing this summer in this region?