VEG GARDEN: Last Full Tour for 2026 | Cold Climate Garden

Is your winter squash ready to harvest? In this final full tour of my Zone 3 vegetable garden for 2026, I’m sharing the secrets to knowing exactly when to pick your butternut, delicata, and mashed potato squash for the best flavor and longest storage life. It’s not just about the color! Join me for a complete walkthrough of what's still growing and what's coming out. We'll cover: 🌱 *Harvesting Winter Squash:* The "fingernail test," and why timing matters for curing 🌱 *Garden Tour:* A look at the last of the cabbage, tomatoes, melons, and the amazing Rowena strawberries. 🌱 *Season Wrap-Up:* Final harvests, preserving the bounty (soup, juice, pie filling!), and preparing for winter. 🌱 *Zone 3 Tips:* What thrived this year (like these huge onions!) and what I'm changing for next season. If you're a cold-climate gardener, you know the challenge of making every day count before the snow flies. This video is your guide to finishing the season strong! Callling all gardeners in zone 5 or colder (geographically much of Canada!) you're in the right place. I prove that you can have a great garden, even with a short season and deep freezes. If you're new here, this channel is dedicated entirely to helping you grow a beautiful and productive garden in a short-season, cold-climate. I cover everything from starting seeds indoors to dealing with early frosts and making the most of every gardening day. Hardy shrubs & perennials, colourful annuals, fruits & short season vegetables - I grow them all! Subscribe for practical tips, garden tours, and reviews that are actually relevant to our unique and challenging growing climate. Link to Growing in the Cove’s video: (peas @14:01)    • Garden Updates July 2026. Zone 5b, Newfoun...   The Russian Cabbage Soup Recipe: This absolutely delicious soup recipe came to me from my sister who got it from her mother-in-law and it uses cabbage, potatoes, onion, dill, and I used fresh tomatoes instead of canned. I doubled the recipe to stock up the freezer. Don’t skip the addition of the can of tomato soup because that really adds to the flavour* Russian Cabbage Soup (Double for a stock pot) 6 medium size potatoes 1/2 cup butter (don’t use oil) 1 large onion 6 cups shredded cabbage 1 large tin diced tomatoes 796 ml (or approx equal amount or more skinned fresh tomatoes) 1 can tomato soup finely chopped dill salt to taste Peel & cut up potatoes. Boil in a pot with 8 cups water (or broth - I used Better than Bouillon) until barely soft, al dente. Then rough mash them up into the water. This will all be added to the soup. In a dutch oven (or stock pot if doubling the recipe) - add butter and saute onion slowly until translucent, then add cabbage and a bit of salt and sweat it. Add tomatoes, the potatoes with potato water, the can of soup and the dill. Bring to a slow boil then simmer for about an hour. Add chicken stock if not boiling potatoes in broth. Add more water/broth if too thick. Add salt to taste. Cool before adding about a cup of half and half cream. Or use sour cream - I added about 1/2 Tbsp to a bowl of soup. If freezing the soup, don’t add the cream until thawed/serving - cream can be substituted with sour cream