October vegetable garden

 

We're about done out there.

Pulled out all the rest of the beans and tomatoes, got the tomato cages put away.

 

A few flowers lingering on in my daughter's garden.

2 small pumpkins turning orange.

(Now that the beans and cosmos are gone, they'll get a lot more sunlight.)

Marigolds still hanging in, but they'll probably be done soon.

  

bare bean poles

 

I can't believe how long we've waited until first frost this year.

Canning & Processing Tally

I'm feeling pretty good about my harvesting, processing, and canning this year. We entered summer almost completely out of home-canned fruit and now our shelves are overflowing!

 

I didn't do so hot taking pictures of garden harvest or what I canned this year. I want to do better on that next year.

The oregano and vegetables were all from our garden.

We had 3 different friends offer free cherry picking in July, and I took them all up on the offers!

2 had sweet cherries, and 1 had a pie cherry tree.

Peaches, pears, and apples were purchased.

 

We ended up with:

 

1 1/2 quarts dried oregano

 

23 quarts sweet cherries

2 quart bags chopped frozen sweet cherries

15 cups pie filling (frozen)

12 pints? a bunch of cherry-berry syrup (jam that didn't set--oops!)

 

5 cups raspberry freezer jam--home-picked fruit

 

8 quarts sliced carrots, frozen

 

39 quarts peaches

 

5 quarts green beans, frozen

 

9 pints plum jam

Free plums from behind the elementary school!

 

33 quarts pears

 

41 quarts applesauce

 

6 pints pickled beets

 

I think that will do it for this year, unless I decide to make some more jam--which is tempting.

I want to make some more lemon-ginger marmalade.

 

My care for the vegetable garden and flowers really dropped off in September...along with my blogging. This list is helping me realize why--I was canning everything in sight! Everything from the carrots on down has been done since the last week of August.

(Not to mention school starting, soccer practice, etc., etc.)

 

Let me just say it again.

It's a good feeling to have all that done for the year.

Containers This Year

These have filled out nicely.

I never did fill up my other 2 pots.

With our kitchen remodel, the back deck was full of cabinets for most of the summer, so I didn't put any back there.

Maybe it was a good thing.

With the hot summer we've had, I have had a hard time keeping these three watered!

They really need it every day.

They get it...every 2nd or 3rd day, depending on when I notice the wilting.

Terrible! 

 

Those red petunias were a fluke!

I certainly didn't think I was buying any red petunias!

I really like the way the sweet potato vine has been spilling over the sides.

 

As predicted, the osteospermum has gone dormant in the heat.

The dahlias still bloom, as long as I'm consistent with the water.

These make a welcome bit of color and texture as you go up the stairs to our front door.

I think as far as design, these are the best I've put together so far.

I love the mix of textures, with the feathery asparagus fern juxtaposed with the bold sweet potato vine. The flower colors complement each other as well.

 

Maybe next year I'll assign a child to water them every day.

 

The Cutting Garden

After perusing some flower farmer blogs and visiting our local u-pick flower farm again, I decided to make a dedicated cutting garden on the end of our side terrace.

 

In May I pulled out all my flower seeds--varying ages, most at least 1 year old.

I weeded like crazy, (it had already been rototilled earlier), then planted my little seeds.

I waited, tried to remember to water, and waited.

 

And....not much came up.

These are the first pictures, because most of the summer has seen only very small struggling plants surrounded by (yes) more weeds.

 

So, to begin:

These daisies were a gift from a friend, and after taking a month or two to recover from transplanting, they're actually blooming again!

 

Funny story about them:

I was making a bouquet to give to a friend, and came over for some daisies.

As I was snipping them, I thought, "Wow, you can really smell the compost in this bed!"

Then later, in the car, I really thought I had stepped in something.

I checked my shoes, I was looking for the source of THAT smell.

Oh yes. It wasn't the compost, my friends.

So, fortunately, I have some pretty white daisies.

UNfortunately, those daisies smell like poop.

Therefore, they will have to be moved elsewhere in my garden, because flowers in my cutting garden aren't allowed to stink that bad!

 

My current plan is possibly moving them down the terrace, between each of my new lilac bushes.

Ever-loving zinnias.

These are the best!

They're the 'Cut and Come Again' variety, and they have all sorts of fun and different forms in the same seed packet. As you can see, most were pink this year, but that's okay, too.

 

These bachelor buttons grew from 4 year-old seed!

They sure are pretty, but also are super floppy, which made them hard to use in arrangements.

They must not get enough sun right here.

 

Sunflower mix.

Tall, stately, and beautiful.

I'm still figuring out how to use them in a mixed bouquet.

 

So out of maybe 10 varieties of seeds planted this year, so far I have 3 things growing.

I've got some work to do!

August in the Kids' Gardens

As they had mostly spring vegetables in their gardens, it's not too surprising that they haven't had as much to harvest these days.

 

My daughter's garden:

 

She's still got a few peppers coming, and a few carrots, but mostly it is flowers.

She loves the flowers, so that's okay too.

(A girl after my own heart.)

 

My oldest son's garden:

His potatoes have about died off completely in the far back.

He also has a couple of peppers starting to turn red.

He been picking beans off his bean plant (not pictured), and has a few carrots here and there, along with those beautiful snapdragons right in front.

 

 

Littlest guy's garden is still going, but about to be all harvested.

Carrots and beets are hanging on, but will be picked within the week.

Front Flowerbeds: Pockets of Pretty

 

With the unusually hot June and July we've had, the front flowerbeds have started dying off in some places. It's easy to tell which flowers are the more self-sufficient types!

I have tried to get out and water once or twice a week, but for some that hasn't been nearly enough.

So I have little pockets of pretty here and there.

Hey, I'll take it!

 

Mums started blooming early, and the coneflowers certainly don't mind the heat.

My potentilla is as tough as nails--don't let those diminutive dainty flowers fool you!

The purple bellflower, which hasn't done much for the last 2 years, finally perked up and started filling in its spot.

We've got a glimpse of phlox, a little bit of salvia, and those coneflowers in the background.

See, from this angle it's lovely! 

I'm not sure what's going on right here FRONT AND CENTER, but the dead corkscrew rush and dying peony are not what I want to see in the spotlight!

 

This is a strange angle, in an attempt to get a picture of my William Shakespeare rose blooming again.

This pocket is more interesting than pretty, with the coneflower heads and dried drumstick alliums.

This salvia, which I'm fairly certain is the 'Rose Queen' variety, is kind of a thug. However, it's so pretty and long-lasting, that for now I'm letting it do its thing.

The seedlings are easy to pull out come spring. 

Lamb's ears with dead columbine.

Just keeping it real.

Oooh, look!

We found another little pocket of pretty!

Burgundy guillardia in the front with a few more coneflowers in the back.

Heat? What heat?

[Water? What water?... wait--that's my cue!]

Despite the catmint blooms being mostly seedheads by now, the bees are still determinedly going about their business. Next year I will probably cut it back much sooner.

Ah yes. The 'Quickfire' Hydrangea.

A little loveliness all by itself.

 

Vegetable Garden Glory Days

 August is high time for the vegetable garden.

Everything is green and lush and billowing.

Also, the gardener is still watering and even weeding, on occasion.

 

Overview

 

This view out my kitchen window every day made me so satisfied.

That's a lot of goodness going on out there.

 

Starting from the top left: 

Basil has gone to seed without me drying any.

However, I was able to freeze some.

Tomatoes producing enough for fresh eating.

 

So many marigolds!

They became a Wall of Cheerfulness that just keeps going and going.

I love it!

 

Not pictured: my pole beans, which did not climb the poles as they were supposed to (even with help from me!)

 

Middle terrace:

 

We've got a few a pumpkins hiding under there: some minis and some just small.

 



 

The cosmo jungle.

You are looking at the reason for such small pumpkins, right here.

I love it so much, I decided to keep it.

There also a few zinnias in there on the left.

Also, there are onions hiding amongst the jungle foliage.

 

Cucumbers still going, but production slowing down.

Zucchini also slowing but going.

 

 Bottom Terrace (minus the kids' gardens):

 

oregano and zinnias

One of these days I'll get a photo that truly represents how many bees are on the oregano when it flowers. Many, many bees. Also, wasps, including these very scary-looking 2-inch long all black ones.

Bean patch.

This is a mixture of purple, yellow wax, and regular green beans.

Good for daily snacking.

 

Yay beans!

Carrots bushing out and looking good.

Sweet potato actually flowering!

It's pretty, and it's huge and bushy.

The rest of the potatoes are about done, but I'm going to wait to harvest them for awhile longer.

We should have at least another month before frost hits.