September first pictures

I know this post is late, life has kinda been a tad nuts with all of us trying to get into school routines. Sadly, the garden is showing signs of neglect, but I am hoping to work on that this weekend and fix it back up. I know a few plants have given their last out there.

The front small bed is looking rather nice. The dill has taken off and the milkweed is blooming again. I remember just a month ago this bed looked so barren. It has filled out and is looking very alive.

 Sadly, yes the front bed is overgrown. We are trying to get back into the habit of drying herbs and cutting it back, but its been a bit harder to figure out how to get it all lined up right. However, it is nice to still be about to walk outside and just grab some herbs, which was the whole point. Next year we will probably cut back a bit on what goes in there.

This is the basil circle that is suppose to go around my lilac. The tree itself is looking rather sad, but the basil has gone to flower and I am having a hard time keeping up with it. However, you can see the pretty colors of Pooka's 5 color chinese peppers through all the basil.

The sunflowers are about done. Most have lost their blooms and I either cut the blooms away to save the seeds or the animals have gotten them. This weekend we are hoping to go out there and kill most of it off. We also need to figure out something better for dealing with the weeds. But that will be a discussion over the winter. 

The small bed under the window is doing well. We haven't gotten any broccoli off these plants yet, but last year it was about now the broccoli started to come in and these plants were started a bit late. We just transplanted some new Pak Choi into this bed so thats why they look a tad wilted. They were mad I had uprooted them from their pot.

We have a few new green bean plants starting, but the peas have yet to sprout. I am thinking I may go out and buy another package of peas if I can find them and put them in. It all depends. there is also another Pak Choi plant in here as well as the way overgrown basil. Again, the herbs need cut back. Work never ends it seems.

The pepper plants are going strong. They have liked this heat wave we are getting and I am collecting sweet peppers right and left. We finally had enough to freeze the other day. The tomatillos are still a question on if the fungicide will work or not.

 I think the corn is dead. I think there is one ear in there I need to go pick, but it may of rotten a bit. That one I just didn't give the attention to this year. I promised Kiddo we will try again next year. However, the beans in the peas in that pot are doing well, as well as the peas in the back pot. The squash I think is done. I need to pull it but that is part of this weekends clean up I think. 

The broccoli is doing well and we are due to have broccoli again tonight. I did realize this year we need a few more cucumber plants to get what we need. As Aunt Pooka told us this weekend, its a balancing act figuring how much you need but not getting too much. This is the part I find hard. Too bad no one says "This many tomatoes, this many cucumber for a family of 4."

Oh, tomatoes, tomatoes. They are everywhere. While our tomatoes may not be as tall as they were last year, they are covered in nice pretty giant green tomatoes. I just hope the season stays warm enough to harvest them all. I will say we did decide next year to cut back the tomatoes plant number a bit, but like with the cucumbers, we aren't sure how many is "enough".

The cherry tomatoes have started to reach a nice height. We still have not seen any purple ones, but Pooka is loving having yellow cherry tomatoes. They do drive Daddy nuts since he has a hard time deciding when they are ripe. The jalapenos are doing well, but the poblano peppers have yet to have much on them. The plant is finally starting to produce, but we haven't been able to harvest anything yet. I think this may be the year for bad peppers. then again they like HOT weather and it has been cool.

The celery is doing well, the marigold and the snapdragons are blooming again. I also really need to cut the scallions back, but that is a good problem to have. I think I may cut them back and try to freeze them for later this winter. Pooka loves using our "chopper box" to cut the veggies, this would be a good one for her to use.

The deck is a giant mess, which is why I only took one picture. Most of the squash is dead, or dying, and I need to pull some bolted lettuce and restart it. All in all, the deck is overgrown, but it is producing, which is the point. We even have 4 eggplants on one plant. Maybe those deserve space in the yard next year. Those and the free yellow squash since we actually found we like that fresh but not store bought. Pooka was so happy to try new things and even happier to know she likes them.