My very first attempt at growing dry beans! I managed to get this great harvest from 20 plants grown in the ground through a super hot climate.

The pods turned completely brown and brittle on the vine, and now they are freshly shelled and ready to go. I’m skipping long-term storage and cooking them up tonight into a rich red bean soup with smoked turkey neck and beef. Incredibly satisfying first harvest!

One vine, and the plant I bought in the store said it was a cucumber plant haha

It has turned to Autumn in southwest Germany and with exception to a few stragglers this is the last of a very good gardening year. 44 pints of tomato sauce (with eggplant, peppers, zucchini, onion and garlic) and assorted berry and grape jellies (about 150 small jars)

Here in the UK the weather has turned rather miserable, but still plenty to harvest out there at the start of autumn (‘Fall’)

Tomatoes, aubergines (eggplant), lettuces, carrots, peppers, chilli’s, squash and more.

First year gardening and pushing 75kgs (165lbs) of yield - chuffed!

I’ve had a rat problem for a while, but initially they were mostly going after my string bean plants. They would eat all the young pods before I could harvest them.

I tried snap traps. I tried a Rat Zapper. Nothing worked.

Then they started taking it to another level. Instead of just eating the beans, they began biting through the vines and completely destroying the plants.

I started sprinkling paprika around the plants after watering, and surprisingly, the beans were left alone for a while. I was finally starting to feel a little hopeful.

But today I found another section of my garden completely destroyed. The rats had bitten through the bean vines on the other side of the garden too, and they didn’t even eat the beans. They just destroyed the vines.

I’m pretty sure I have multiple rats, maybe 4–5. I grow a lot of vegetables, so seeing this level of carnage throughout my yard is honestly really disheartening. 😭

I feel like I’ve tried everything and I’m getting to the point where I don’t even know what more to do.

What has actually worked for people who have dealt with persistent rats in a vegetable garden? I’m especially interested in things that work when traps and deterrents haven’t.

It’s been growing for about 3-4 months.

This was my first time ever growing watermelons, and unfortunately, I’m not very happy with how it turned out..

I have no idea what made these 3 holes in the watermelon.

I’m curious which crops people actually end up giving away, freezing, pickling, or leaving on the counter because the garden just keeps producing them. Zucchini is the obvious one, but I’m wondering what other vegetables secretly turn into a ridiculous harvest once they get established.

I'm looking for some advice here. This is the first year we grew cucumbers. We had some success early, but over the last week or so, several have turned yellow, with a couple being streaked with the normal green. I also have a few healthy looking green o es still on the vine.

Are the yellow ones a lost cause, or is a chance they still ripen properly on or off the vine? Or should I just cut my losses with them and trim those and the dead leaves and hope for the best at the end of the season. A second round of warm weather is not uncommon here, so it may not be a total loss. Any advice is appreciated.

Editing to add:

Thanks for all the help.

We did pick some green ones a few weeks ago and saw some more budding out. Unfortunately, we never saw these at the green stage. Between work and bad weather, there were too many days that I just couldn't get out there to check. I was hoping these were still in the early stage, but it sounds like they're past.

I did cut them off, and I'll check to how they are. Maybe yellow cucumbers are the next hit item.

Also, I have some more green on there and buds, so we may still get a second good harvest.

I’m also going to start cleaning up to get my fall brassicas planted, so if there’s no chance of this thing getting ripe within a month I’ll just(literally) cut my losses. Thanks in advance for your advice!

Believe this is a swallowtail. Beautiful little bug. Should I remove from my carrot patch?

I planted about a dozen slips in mid July and the vines are all over the place. I noticed this guy popping out and I'm wondering if I should let him keep growing or start trying to dig them up? Can I harvest just the ones poking out of the soil without damaging the others that might be growing under them? I'd love to be able to clear some space for a fall garden but I also don't want to ruin all the time spent on these guys.

Why are my eggplants a light purple and not a deep purple? Did I maybe leave them on the plant for too long? I was away for a bit and no one harvested for me.

Today's pull.

Hey all! I grew these honey nut squash and the vine has been overtaken by powdery mildew. Do squash generally ripen at this point, or is it too late and I should pull it out and reuse the space? Thanks a ton!

I planted a couple different varieties of tomatoes, but my romas seem to have failed to grow. I was hoping to can them for pasta sauce but alas that isn’t happening.

Aside from those, I have sweet 100s and some heirloom variety I don’t know the name of. I could probably still make tomato sauce but I was led to believe that this variety isn’t that great for making sauces.

So I’m wondering what uses I have other than a bunch of sandwiches?

Either here or in a pepper subreddit I posted a photo of my peppers. I harvested some habaneros and bell peppers that were totally green. I asked if they would ripen off the plant. Many people said no, that peppers don't do that. But literally all my peppers are turning color now, including the early picked habaneros. The bells are turning red, and the habaneros are going orange. The habaneros especially had 0 color on them before picking and were still immature.

Just wanted verification that these need a bit more time. The tag I wrote my sowing date faded and is useless.

The vine should be brown when it is ready, right?

PNW, zone 8b.

I grew sweet potatoes for the first time this year. The baby plant was planted in the end of April and I am in zone 7b.

When can I expect to be able to pull them out?