You sound like me! I was ready to rip out my pole beans before leaving on a trip on the 19th. I didn't because I was letting several pods mature for next year's bean seed. When I came home, the plants were LOADED again, and I picked about 2 lbs off a 12 foot row, and will pick another couple pounds in a few days. The big tomatoes are just hitting their stride and ripening up nicely, and I have peppers coming out of my ears. I think the reason for this is the slightly cooler weather, as many plants cannot set fruit when temps are over 90 degrees or so. Also, toward the end of the season, the roots are more developed, and the foliage is not growing as quickly, so there is more energy available for making fruits.

It sound like you had a great garden season. Wish I was one of the recipients of your bounty, since I had puny crop this season. I agree that the taste in tomatoes could be because of the weather. They are very "temperamental". Yes, my summer garden is winding down also, but the Orange and Lemon trees are putting out new blooms and fruit, they will be ready in December/January. I planted some asters for fall color and I'm looking to plant some cool season crops. Enjoy your bounty and your hard work this winter.

Last one has beautifully patterned eye. Nice pic of Clark Gable; some of the pics of that one I see seem almost contorted. Margo Reed Indeed has been a bit disappointing here as it blooms barely above the foliage.

Almost anything quick enough to help this year would have to be an annual. And I don't think I would plant roses near tomatoes because of roses' propensity towards foliar disease AND because of the thrip issue with both roses and certain tomato diseases. Some of the tall cannas, planted closely together, might make enough growth by August or so to provide wind protecion for the fall garden crops. My cannas are already 4' or 5' tall, but they've been here a while. I don't know how quickly brand new ones would grow. Do you? MAYBE crape myrtles, planted fairly close together, if a person could find some that top out at 6 or 8 or 10 feet in height without massive and disfiguring pruning. I am seriously considering planting a row of hollies on the three sides of my garden that don't border the driveway. I worry they might get too tall and shade it too much after 4 or 5 years of growth, but I think if I CAREFULLY choose a variety that grows to a decent height, but not too tall, it could work. I also know I would have to plant them back 4 or 5 feet from the garden fence so that, once they were mature, they would come close to the fence, but not through it. Hollies would be my choice because they are so pest and disease resistant and grow to be quite dense. I have Dwarf Burfords around the porch (CAREFULLY selected and planted pretty far from the porch and pretty far from one another) but the word "dwarf" is relative, since I expect these to top out around 12' to 18', which is taller than your average "dwarf" shrub, but shorter than regular Burfords which can easily get 20' to 30' tall. I'd choose a shorter variety to hedge in the garden. If I thought that we'd never have this kind of wind again, I wouldn't bother.....but I know that we will. For a lot of years, I have relied on annuals for a windbreak. One of my best ever included tithonias, lion's tail, several of the tall grain-type amaranths, and branching sunflowers. However, those annuals probably wouldn't be able to handle this year's wind. I also grow vines on my fences, and am going to let them climb the new 7' fence, so that will help but they don't completely block the wind.....just slow it down and filter it a little. I don't know if Mike is in a real exposed area, or it he has a lot of houses and other buildings around. In this case, the more buildings the better to block the wind.....EXCEPT that tomato plants need a little wind to help with pollination and also to help prevent foliar disease by helping dry moisture on the leaves Mike, if you are reading this....tell us more about your site, or what you've already tried.....or what you're comtemplating trying! Dawn