A busy work schedule this summer made the days fly by. Then we had a great 2.5 week camping trip to the southwest. We came home to discover some of the largest veggies we've gotten from the garden - just beautiful - thanks to great care from mom and less frequent harvesting. I wanted to say that the veggies looked good enough to be store bought, but actually I think that degrades them a little bit.
Being back in the garden is so fulfilling for the soul - seeing the happy bob of the sunflowers in the breeze, discovering that our milkweed is feeding some hungry monarch butterflies, seeing the chickens happily scratching and bathing in the dirt, harvesting a big bowl of fresh salad greens, and discovering the first bluebonnets leaves in the wildflower meadow. We had a lot of success with our garden this year. As the first frost chances enter the weather forecast it will be sad to think of losing the riot of tomatoes, eggplant, and okra that have taken over the garden. But at the same time, it will be exciting to have the opportunity to regain space in which to feed the soil with compost and begin planning for next year. I wanted to take an updated panorama of the garden to compare its lushness to images of when we first created the garden. It's a jungle out there now!
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| It's hard to tell what's what in this panorama of the garden. It's become a little jungle during the mild summer. |
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| A November harvest. Our salad greens include a variety of lettuces, endive, mint, stevia, cilantro, and dill. |
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| An artfully prepared green tomato |
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| Mole keeps an eye on the chickens |
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| The birdhouse gourd took over the arbor and juniper trees |
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| A $1 salvia cutting from a community garden puts on quite a show at last! |
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| It is a hit with bees and butterflies, including the monarch |
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| The monarchs also find the milkweed |
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| Only one type of lettuce took off in this bed. I thinned it by transplanting it throughout the bed in the rain. It is doing great! |
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| The cheery sunflowers were a bright spot (that took over beds and cascaded over paths) all summer long. This plant keeps the mulberry tree company, which has taken off since being planted |
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| Dill, cilantro, beets, radishes, and kohlrabi are doing alright despite a bit too much shade on this bed |
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| Our amazing sugar snap peas are back in bloom |
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| A fancy grasshopper |
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| Chick Uno is now Hen Uno, and w're expecting eggs soon |
