indoor herbs

Where a week ago the Cilantro was all droopy from transplanting, and the Basil looked fine, now it's the other way around. The Cilantro has sprung up, and even the seedlings I had (very doubtfully) moved into the new pot, are all standing up tall and putting out new leaves. The Basil looks shabby and sad. I think perhaps because A. didn't know they were recently repotted and went and pulled leaves off for cooking. He might have tugged too hard and rocked them off their little roots or something. No matter, there's already new Basil sprouting from the seeds! Happily, the ones planted from seed I saved out of the garden are growing faster than the ones from store seed! I'm pretty confident I can save seed to grow my own Basil year after year now.

wrong time

Stupid me. Why did I get so eager to start seedlings early? Today I finally figured out how to look up the last frost date for my area- it's somewhere between mid-april and may, safest estimate may 10th. So then I got out all my seed packets and actually read the directions. Sorted them by dates they can be planted, indoors or out, and made up a little chart so I don't forget. The earliest I can start growing seed inside isn't really for another two or three weeks, even for the lettuce. All those seedlings I have going now will probably die- being held indoors too long they'll get starved for light and space, put outside too early the frost will kill. O well. I'll nurture along the biggest ones just because I like to see things growing in my windowsill, and not get upset if the cat knocks over a tray (like happened yesterday to the Cauliflower, although the seedlings, picked up off floor and replanted, recovered nicely!)

seedlings

Cauliflower
I had forgotten to check my seedling trays, and when did yesterday delighted to find them all growing! Only the poor seedlings had been trapped under the plastic and searching for light, so their stems are all long and bent. They are now sitting in windowsills, moved about to catch the most of daylight and put close under reading lamps for a few more hours in the evening.
Romaine lettuce
Simpson lettuce
Thyme

avocado

Well, the Avocado pit is doing something. The skin is cracking. I hope this is a good sign!

garden plans

Evaluating how last year's garden did, to help think out my plan for this year's. Plants that did very good last year:

Lettuce- always an abundance, and the saved seed grew!
Green Beans- we're still eating frozen garden beans
Tomato- even the volunteers gave us yummy tomatoes
Basil- still have scions of the garden plants indoors
Cilantro- saved lots of seed, hope it will help deter pests
Carrot- first planting grew best, (remember the hot water trick)
Swiss Chard- grew back after being cut down in summer heat
Garlic- already planted from fall, ready to go again

I'm definitely planting all these again.

These plants did well, but not spectacular:

Cantaloupe- delicious, but damaged at last by cucumber beetles
Cucumbers- delicious and prolific, but all plants destroyed by the beetle
Mint- grew well, but did not get used much
Pumpkin- only a few pumpkins for all the vines. Needs more space?
Radish- lots of radishes, but my family doesn't like to eat them!
Snap Peas- not a lot of peas, and plants tended to get mildew
Zucchini- succumbed to the cucumber beetle, also in the fall quit producing as many fruits although lots of flowers. Now I think I only had one or two male plants, and that was the first one to get sickened by the beetle.

Going to plant all these again, except for the radishes and mint.

Plants that just did okay:

Beets- not many grew to maturity, but those that did delicious!
Bell Pepper- only one plant grew, it did very well
Onion- never much larger than the original sets
Potatoes- ditto, and I think I didn't water them enough
Broccoli- those started indoors did poorly, the ones planted directly into garden soil much better

Want to try them all again, except perhaps the potatoes.

Plants that did poorly for me:

Corn- most of them grew, but something ate the young plants (slugs?)
Oregano- grew well, but died when its pot dried out (weekend away)
Watermelon- only one seed germinated, eaten by bugs immediately
Spinach- only a few plants grew, the slugs got 'em
Sweet Peas- a few grew, but never flourished
Cauliflower- planted too late, didn't mature in time
Cabbage- actually one grew into a  huge plant, but no one wanted to eat it! got composted

I am going to grow Oregano again, and try the Cauliflower and Corn simply because I still have seed. The others, not this year.

Plants that did not grow at all:

Celery
Chives
Hot Peppers
Rosemary
Sage
Parsley- this one did sprout, but then I redesigned the garden, making the paths, and all the little seedlings got disturbed and died

I don't know why the rest didn't grow. I might try some of the herbs again.

cuttings

A little while back we were walking through the mall and A. noticed I kept eying certain plantings arranged throughout the common spaces. He's heard me ramble on about propagating plants from cuttings lately and said: you want a leaf, don't you? tell me which one; and he picked off a few. So now I'm going to see if I can make them grow.

Brought home at first they were just in a glass of water.


Then yesterday I finally looked up what they are. One is an Schefflera (or umbrella) plant, my mother used to have a big one in the corner of our living room. Another is some kind of Philodendron, very easy to grow from cuttings. The third I think is a variety of Aglaonema, the leaf still tightly curled. All the info I look up says the Aglaonema can be propagated from cuttings, but none say just from a leaf. However, that's all I have, so I stuck it in some damp, well-drained soil. Same with the Schefflera leaf. The Philodendron I've left in the water glass to see if roots grow first, before potting it.

The aglaonema here is next to my little geranium start.

avocado experiment

Did a bit more reading, and realized my Avocado project could be done better. Tons of people apparently grow Avocado pits into trees, starting by suspending the pit over a jar of water. Now that I think about it, this seems vaguely familiar. I might have done something similar as a child. So I've unwrapped the pits and made up two jars. One set atop the fridge, the other my daughter insisted on putting in her window, next to one of the onions. I did read that some people have trouble with the pits going moldy before they sprout, but if that happens we might try again, just putting them directly into a pot of soil. There's never a shortage of avocados to try this with, as my husband likes them and eats many!

starting seeds

The snow is beginning to melt outside, dripping from all the eaves. Buds showing up on the ends of tree branches. Saw a robin the other day.

The top of my fridge is getting crowded; I planted half a dozen small plastic trays (saved from food packages) with seeds to get started on the garden. One tray has Rosemary and Thyme seed, another Basil, also the small plastic greenhouse with little clay pots planted with Basil (garden seed in the greenhouse, store seed in the tray). Three trays each have Lettuce- one romaine (store seed), one simpson (garden) and the last one bibb (garden). Also sowed a tray with Cauliflower seed.


Although I don't have all the proper materials, I did the best I could. I lined the bottom of each tray with shards, then put a piece of cheesecloth over that, then about an inch of potting soil. I hope that does the trick, as these trays don't have drainage holes. Watered very carefully with an eyedropper (so as not to wash the seeds out of position) and covered each tray with plastic wrap to keep humid. Set in a warm place- some atop the fridge, a few others atop the bookshelf in bedroom, which is near a heat vent- to wait for them to sprout.

mango

A few days ago ate a fresh Mango for breakfast, and this time saved the seed husk. Cleaned it, and let dry out on the windowsill. When I cracked open the husk, the seed inside had already begun to split its skin. Now it's snug in a pot of dirt. I hope I didn't plant it upside down. Wait and see what happens!



I love doing these little growing experiments when it's still winter but my green thumb is itching. I'm encouraged in them by remembering one of my art teachers from college. He brought a whole coconut back with him from vacation in Hawaii, picked up off the beach for mere curiosity. He set it on the surface of a pot of soil. It grew roots and then sprouted leaves. I was always so intrigued that he was growing a coconut plant! I did some sketches of it, and featured it in a pen and ink drawing here.

onion greens

Look how well the Onions are growing! Today they got repotted, mostly because I wanted to add the better drainage of crocking, but at the same time I discovered the roots were already filling up the space, so put them each in a larger pot. I also found my last (and smallest) red onion had tiny rootlets coming out of its basal plate, although no green sprout. Just to see, I put over a little baby food jar of water. The roots are growing, not nearly as fast as the others did, and so far no sprout yet. Maybe this only works if it's sprouted already? Hm.

crocking

After reading more about houseplants, realized I've done so much wrong! I never before put crocking in the bottom of my pots, plus realized most of them were in too large of pots, resulting in the slightly sour smell of soil that never dries out properly. So today I did quite a bit of repotting. They really do drain a lot better with the shards in the bottom! (I don't have any old broken clay pots but instead used some tiles which I found in the shed, and busted with a hammer).

The Cilantro especially looks very sad (we've eaten most of it too) but most of the newly-planted seeds had not sprouted yet, so I just pushed them back into the soil. Cut the nicest shoots of Basil off the tops of the plants, stripped their lower leaves and stuck them back into the moist (and now well-drained) soil. I've had some success with Basil like that before, they grow roots readily. The three tallest stalks of Basil there, with slightly woody stems, are the original rooted plants. So now I have two pots of Basil and one of Cilantro. I've put a sheet or two of cardboard between the plants and the window pane to shelter them a bit while they recover.

geranium bonsai

Did I never show you my little Bonsai? I bought it at a gardening street fair in the early fall, last year. It's a dwarf Geranium, supposed to make pink flowers atop the foliage, but I don't know how large it has to grow first. I've been trimming the leaves every now and then to give it shape. Recently cut off a small branch that was coming out of the base of the plant, and just stuck it in the soil of another small pot. So far it seems to be doing okay, it's even sprouted a new leaf.

But after reading up a bit on plant propagation (Thalassa Cruso) I realize I did it wrong (again!). Ought to have let the cutting dry out and heal at the base before planting, and mixed some perlite into the soil to drain better. Well, I'll see if this little plant survives, and if not try again. Ordered some books about bonsai, too, as I really don't know what I'm doing! I've put it under a glass globe to protect from drafts in the cold windowsill for the time being.

seedlings

The yellow pepper seeds I planted are beginning to push above the dirt. There's two or three in each pot shoving their heads out. Kiwi seeds have also begun to sprout- they are the smallest seedlings I've ever seen! Encouraged, I planted another two trays of them from yet another overripe kiwi (I don't like kiwis so if A doesn't eat them, they just get composted). I realize it's pretty ridiculous for me to be trying to grow from seed indoors in a nearly-basement level when it's a blizzard outside. Low light, and short hours of it. I don't have any grow lights, either. So I've set my old drawing lamp above the seedling trays atop the fridge, to give them some extra light where it's warm.

poinsettia

Neighbor gave me a cutting off his Poinsettia a few days ago, which I stuck in a jar of water to see if it will grow roots. I think it would do better with rooting hormone and soil, actually, but I don't have any of the powder (the nurseries are all closed until March). I used to do this with cuttings of my mother's creeping charlie plants. My neighbor told me once when he was a teenager he picked up the leaf of some exotic tropical plant off the floor of an arboretum, took it home and put it in water. When it grew roots, he potted it. It grew very quickly, and before long was a towering lush plant that nearly reached the ceiling. He gave it to a family member who kept it for some five years!

Well, the Poinsettia cutting is not doing too well. The leaves are looking poorly, a bit yellowed and starting to curl. I think it may be getting too much sun, and have moved it to a counter just aside the kitchen window where there's plenty of light still but none of it direct. I also read more about growing poinsettias from cuttings and realized I did it all wrong. Wrong time of year, wrong part of the plant, etc. But still going to try and see if it survives; I stuck it in a small pot of soil and covered with a clear plastic jug as it needs humidity. Hopefully it does better.

cilantro

The Cilantro in my windowsill pots is getting nice and lush, although a bit leggy. Perhaps not quite enough sunlight (as our windows with the deepest windowsills, that will hold pots, are also very close to ground level outside). I was pleased yesterday to pinch enough of the herb for A. to make fresh guacamole. It smells great when I crush a leaf between fingers. Excellent also in a marinade for grilled shrimp, or pho soup! I pushed another dozen seeds (saved from the garden) into the soil so we'll have a new batch soon. I remember last summer when I dried the plants, thinking I had way too many seeds gathered. Now I'm glad I saved them all, as I can successively plant Cilantro to keep us in fresh herbs throughout the winter, and still have enough left to plant the garden when it gets warm enough outside.

frozen compost

A few days ago I emptied another compost bucket from the mudroom onto the outside pile, even as the bin is cold frozen, and drifted with snow. Just yesterday we got hit with a record snowstorm, there's thirty inches of snow on the ground now. And I was itching for spring planting time! Looks like it's going to be a bit longer.

pepper seeds

The pepper seeds did sprout! Very quickly too. I made up three square pots of soil, set a few of the nicest-looking sprouted seeds evenly spaced in each (four in two pots, five in the larger one). Put them back in a warm spot to keep watered until they emerge and need light.

onion sprout

Found a third little red Onion sprouting! So I set it over water in the smallest baby food jar, and overnight it's already grown roots. The other two grew them so fast- it's like I can see them lengthening by the minute! Yesterday it was like this, roots barely visible. And I had made a little cardboard sleeve to hold the smaller onion in place (it kept falling into the water thru the toothpicks, and I didn't want it to rot):

And this morning:

Then daughter and I potted them up:

 

Soon we'll have fresh onion greens to use! And perhaps it will even flower. I wonder if, as these were grown from organic onion sets, if the seeds would be viable. I won't rely on them to stock my garden with onions, but it's fun to see what will grow.

kiwi seeds

Daughter and I squished seeds out of the flesh of a slightly overripe kiwi, and scattered into damp soil in a tray - actually the original plastic container the kiwis came packaged in at the grocery store. It has a lid, shut and set on top of the fridge right under a ceiling heat vent where it will stay warm. See if we can grow some kiwi plants for decoration!

In the same vein, I've also put up there atop the fridge an avocado pit wrapped in damp paper towels and sealed into a plastic bag, and some yellow bell pepper seeds between two layers of damp paper towels, to see if they'll sprout.

onion sprouts

Noticed today that a red Onion in the hanging mesh bag (garden grown!) was sprouting.

Pulled it out and found one more!

Put one in a little green bulb vase and the other in an old baby food jar, supported with toothpicks, so they can sit just touching the water with the base.

When roots sprout, will try to plant them in a pot and have fresh onion greens to cook with! Daughter is so excited to see if the onion will grow. She wants to try and plan other things indoors, too- while we wait for winter to end. So I've planted Catnip seed (saved from last year's packet) in a pot for the cats, and thinking about planting some seeds/pits from fruit we eat. Read that those can make pretty, exotic-looking houseplants, even if they won't give fruit again.

garlic

We are still eating home-grown Garlic, well into winter. Only use a few cloves a week, so I'm pretty sure this bunch will last me until midsummer, when the new crop is pulled.

indoor herbs

Snow. Rain. Cold. A few days warm enough I cleaned out some of the garden, cutting down dead, frozen Broccoli and Cabbage plants that I neglected to compost in fall. Found that the few Cauliflower plants had made small, yellow heads under the top curled leaves. They didn't look good, though. Also emptied the first indoor compost bucket onto the pile, even though it will just sit until spring. That's going better than last winter- I keep a garbage bag of dry fall leaves in the mudroom and put layers of it between each days' compost material. It doesn't smell nearly as bad as before, and breaks down quicker; when I dumped the first bucket onto pile after second one was full, it looked mostly like part-done compost, not like nasty slimy trash.

Indoors, the Basil in pots have died. Only recently. I don't know if it was the cold- they're in an unheated room- or an insect got into it? The ones in living room windowsill are doing fine, one is flourishing. I stuck some of the saved Cilantro seeds into the soil and now have a small spray of herb growing beneath the basil.

winter

Everything's cold and frozen. The small Lettuces still look alive, but I haven't tried to pick any. We still have Green Beans in the freezer, Garlic and red Onion hanging from the ceiling (used regularly) and the other day I broke open one of my seed packets to use seed of Cilantro plant as Cardamon seasoning. The spring garden catalogs have begun to arrive already, daughter and I enjoy going through and circling all the best-looking flowers and veggie varieties, although I know we'll only end up getting a fraction of them.

cold greens

In spite of the snow, the Lettuce is still alright- where the snow has fallen crusted on top and left pockets of air underneath the leaves didn't freeze, and they taste fine. The Lettuce in the raised bed fared a lot better and not a single plant there was frozen. Swiss Chard apparently loves the cold- it put out lots of new, bold dark leaves just before the snow and I picked a handful the day after snowfall for a pasta dish- it was delicious! I think that will be our winter staple of fresh leafy greens.

garden ends

Yesterday we ate our very last garden Tomato from the windowsill- chopped on top of a pizza with some Basil from the indoor pots. A few days prior I cut heads off all the Broccoli plants- it didn't look like much in the hand but steamed lightly w/cheese on top and served fed all of us very well- and quite tasty! There is still (of course) tons of Lettuce, but supposed to snow this weekend so I don't know how much longer that will last. The swiss Chard must really like the cold- since frost has come it is sending up more new, crinkly dark leaves than ever.

green peppers

The Bell Pepper plant inside is failing. It looked pretty for a while sitting in the living room but now sick, some spots on the leaves and wilting. Found lots of aphids, too, and worried they might spread to other plants. Cut off all the peppers, they were still small but very tasty! and composted the plant.

dismal and tender

Pulled a few of the largest Beets the other day, but they weren't nearly large enough. Some had not even formed globes yet, just thick roots. Tucked all the rest in with dry grass and coffee grounds.

Dismayed to find there are still cucumber beetles in the garden- I thought they were all gone. But some Nasturtiums have wilted leaves and I thought the ground was infected, they'd caught it from the zucchinis. Pulled out all the plants today that had wilted parts, and when daughter brought inside the flowers, a small cucumber beetle fell out. I don't think I could check those plants every day for beetles like I did the zucchini and cantaloupe; they grow in long, too tangled vines. Plan to turn the gound over rough just before freezes; I've read that disrupts the laid eggs and cuts down on number of pests next year.

Ate a lunch salad today, just Bibb Lettuce with shredded carrot, raisins and croutons. Delicious! The Lettuce is so rampant outside that I pick an entire head, discard all the leaves with spots or holes, and only save the perfect ones for eating. I'll throw two-thirds of each head into the compost with no qualms, as there's tons left over and we probably won't eat it all before snow.

grumpy pumpkin

We have been watching the cat-eyed pumpkin on the porch slowly collapse. Now he's very grumpy looking, probably because this week he's going to get buried into the compost pile!

cold lovers

Rain today, after nearly a week of sun. The Basil plants indoors are putting out new leaves, the Pepper is perking up, and the Cilantro growing tall. I'm pleased. Outside, most of the garden is now empty except for the brilliant lush Lettuce and solid Broccoli plants. A few of the Beets are getting large enough, almost ready to eat! The Marigold is still blooming, although its leaves beginning to wither. The Nasturtiums have rejuvenated and bloomed in both patches, seem to prefer the fall weather to summer. The ones growing where zucchini came out, some of the leaves suddenly wilted. I thought it was from frost, but the other plants (side of driveway) unaffected. I wonder if they've picked up the disease from the soil- I can't find any bugs- so I think I'll pull those ones out. Nasturtiums have done so well, left on their own- and look so cheerful- my favorite flower- I think next year I'll quit hedging what to plant in the front flower beds- still a few Hostas and flowers struggle there that I planted this spring but got neglected when we were on vacation two weeks dry- and seed it all with Nasturtiums. Especially in the rings around the front trees where Crocus and Bluebells come up in spring, then nothing but weeds will flourish. I think I can get Nasturtium to grow there, and it will look so lovely.

fall chores

Yesterday turned the compost and buried the two smaller pumpkins in it. Nice and hot, steaming! Rake the entire lawn twice a week now, top off the compost pile and what's left over gets bagged in the shed for use in winter. Took out the last of the Tomato plants and potted up the Bell Pepper and Cilantro to bring inside. Turned over those two plots and planted Clover; it might be too cold to grow but at least the turning over of soil should discourage weeds and pests. Planted row of Garlic at the back of the walled plot (where the sunflowers came out), marked it with sticks and piled with leaves for winter mulch. Although the leaves are eaten full of holes, the three Cauliflors I planted against side of the house (where Lettuces are right now) have grown large and the inner leaves are lush and undamaged. We might just get a few cauliflower heads!

jack o' lanterns

Here's the last pumpkin I carved, lit with the other two on Halloween night!

broccoli

Picked two nice Broccoli heads from the garden today, and a handful of Chard for dinner. I'm mighty pleased with the broccoli, as I didn't expect it to do well. Next year going to plant even more!
Something has been eating holes in my Beet leaves; I put out beer last night and caught one slug this morning, a big fat one. Must do the same near the Broccoli under the kitchen window, it's all full of holes.

pumpkin carving

We carved our two home-grown pumpkins. The flesh was so hard and tough it was cracking, not carving easy at all. One had ugly scaly growths on its skin. I think it's the one that sat on the grass; the other was on a piece of wood. I don't know what conditions made them so tough, but I'm going to find out so next year's will be easier to turn into jack-o-lanterns. Here's how they turned out!

busy

Haven't posted for a while although the garden has been busy. Raking fall leaves, and piling them into the compost. The bin is full but sinks a bit every day so I can add more. Two more Broccoli plants are getting nice heads, the one we cut earlier is growing several more small ones around the main stalk. The Nasturtiums are growing wild and taking over all the space left over from where zucchini came out, and putting out thick tendrils into the lush Lettuce patch. The Bell Pepper plant has a few new peppers on it but I don't know if they'll get big enough to ripen and wonder if I should bring it indoors in a pot. I did so with the Basil, two large pots in the mudroom and three smaller ones in the deep living room windowsill; they've just begun recovering and putting out new leaves. We still have a few green Tomatoes ripening in the window but only three plants left outside; when their tomatoes give a hint of rosiness and come into the house they'll come out of the ground too.

The Green Beans had thick heavy pods from the two weeks they were left untouched; we picked them all to dry and pulled apart the beans set aside earlier; sixty dry white beans for seed and all those others that are now hanging in a mesh bag. Come time to plant in spring I'll choose the fattest ones and hope for the best. I had left the plants in the ground thinking they might produce a bit more after that but they just withered so yesterday pulled out and chopped up for composting. The few Bean plants among the lettuces are giving beans, but they don't have very good flavor so I might yank them, too. Just last week I levered all the droopy old yucky-looking Sunflower stalks out of the ground and chopped them up for compost too. That was a tough job- the stalks thick, the root balls heavy. Daughter picked apart the browned heads for seeds and wants to save them for planting again like she sees me do with basil and green beans. I don't know if they'll grow (or if they were hybrid plants we'll get something wild and unlovely) but package them up like the rest into a jar in the fridge to see.

returning

I expected when we came back from ten days' vacation that most of the garden would be dead but not so. The Lettuce is all thick lush and dark green- growing more vigorously in the plot where old patio came up than in the walled area. The new Green Bean plants are flowering and a few had beans to pick. The older G Bean plants look tattered- and all hung with long, fat pods. Too far grown for eating- we like the beans young and tender- but great to dry for seed. The Beets and Chard are still there, Basil grown wild and thick, and yesterday we ate our first Broccoli head! It had so much flavor. Lots of Tomatoes on the vine (and the ground) even though they look withered. Even the Carrots I planted before we left have begun to sprout, and half a dozen Spinach plants came up, and a dozen Peas. It all looks well. The only thing that really died was the Oregano in a pot on the porch.

peppers

Planted the last of the Peas yesterday. It looked like squirrels dug up a few seeds- or birds? but plenty are left.

Picked all of my Bell Peppers- there were three medium-sized ones left. Last year I got two pepper plants, and three peppers off them. This year one plant grew, and gave me five peppers. If I can get a half dozen plants to grow well next year, I'll be happy. Made a dish of stuffed peppers w/meat and rice and onions and garlic and herbs. The recipe used five things from the garden- Peppers, Garlic, Tomatoes, fresh Basil and Oregano.

One of the Broccoli plants is finally forming its head of florets. I can't wait for it to get big enough to cut! The Beets are nearly ready, too- we'll eat them before a week's out.

tomatoes end

Took out the second plot of Tomatoes today- the cherry tomatoes and another volunteer plant were in that space. The small tomatoes no longer have good flavor but daughter insisted on picked all the green ones to put in the windowsill for ripening. After the vines were all chopped into the compost pile, I turned over the soil with a trowel, picked out all the stones I could find, crumbled the dirt fine and raked in half a bucket of cured compost. I think it's my best compost yet- smelled heavy and sweet. Smoothed and patted the soil down, then made a half dozen furrows with trowel and scattered in what's left of the Carrot seed. (Didn't make strips this time). Then watered with steaming hot. Also planted Spinach (bloomsdale longstanding) in the spot that had cantaloupes before.

Now all I have left for fall planting is peas, garlic and clover to cover crop the bare areas.

seed strips

Picked a nice bunch of Green Beans today. Planted Carrot seed in the first cleared plot. Combined two tips that I learned from reading garden books. First was to make seed strips- cut paper towels into narrow strips, dab on a thin paste of water and flour every marked off three inches, stick the seeds on evenly spaced, let it dry. Then lay them down on the soil, sprinkle more dirt over top and pat down. Easy that way to make sure the tiny seeds are all evenly spaced. Then water with hot boiling water, that worked well for me in spring getting the seeds to germinate quickly. Two lengths of five paper towel squares cut into five or six strips each filled one plot quite nicely.

When it's too cool for the tomatoes to ripen on the vine quickly but they're still growing, I pick them and put inside on windowsill to finish ripening. The row of round, rosy shapes is such a cheerful feel of approaching autumn, for me. More so than falling leaves- we don't have many even changing color yet. But already the tomatoes line the windowsill, in their various hues creeping from green with a touch of rose to juicy bold red (as in this month's header image).

carrots

Pulled up the last few carrots today- only four good enough to eat. Dug in a bit of compost and planted the rest of the Beets in their spot. Pulled up the withering Tomatoes from the first plot on the opposite side of the yard, where the volunteers were growing. Weeded and raked it over, thinking what to put there for fall. More carrots? spinach?

fall bounty

Even though it's definitely fall now with cooler weather and more rain, the garden still gives bounty. Today I clipped the greens off a volunteer onion for chives, sliced a red Onion to substitute for shallots, picked a handful of cherry Tomatoes, two green Bell Peppers (not quite ripe but A will still eat them sliced with a dip) one fat Zucchini and a nice little bunch of Green Beans. The g bean plants are doing better now- far less signs of insect damage and I didn't see a single cucumber beetle. There were a few grasshoppers but then I spotted the preying mantis- a big one, as long as my hand, stalking under the bean plants. So I left well alone, hopeful that he's been eating my pests and will keep the plants defended.

volunteers

In all the places where I let Lettuce go to seed, there's new small seedlings coming up, from seed that dropped before (or while) I gathered. I'm going to let a few rains make them big enough for a baby greens salad, then turn over the plot and plant it new for fall.

salad

Yesterday made a salad using some of the last of summer's Tomatoes, and the first of fall Lettuce. It was so sweet, with all the baby greens. A bit of seedling Beet leaves, too, from the thinned plants.

cleanup

Did a bit of fall cleanup in the garden today. Cut out wilted and yellowed leaves from the heirloom plants, the rest look fine still. Cut down some of the large volunteer Tomato plants- they were all collapsed on the ground and getting bug-ridden. The unripe tomatoes that weren't blemished I brought inside to ripen in windowsill. Pulled up the wilted cantaloupe vines and the smallest Zucchini plant which I don't think will give me any more zucchinis. Those went in trash bag, as I don't want to spread any disease from the cucumber beetles. Weeded the now-bare cantaloupe plot, and found some of my Cilantro has sprouted! It just might grow enough to eat some fresh cilantro again before cold weather. In the other two bare plots at the end of the row, the Clover I seeded for green cover overwinter has come up sporadically. I might rake the bare spots over and seed again, especially before it rains this weekend. A small picking off the Green Beans again. On the plant I left alone for keeping seed the long, fat pods are starting to turn yellow. The one green bushy Marigold plant is still sporting flowers, and a few of the lesser Sunflowers put up small secondary flowers after I cut the first wilted heads off. I found among the blue bindweed growing on the fence a single tendril of Sweet Pea, grown tall and with folded buds, but it never made flowers. Makes me nostalgic and sad, my mom used to grow sweet peas in the garden, but here they didn't flourish for me (yet!) The Beets have all come up, and the young Lettuce is growing lush and healthy everywhere. Now I'm going to have to start slug patrol again.

red and orange

The Tomatoes are going. The cherry ones don't taste good anymore, and the heirlooms are getting wilted, prone to bug holes. I just can't get out into the garden enough to keep it clear of pests, right now. I'm going to pull up the cherry Tomato plants, and coax the larger ones along a bit longer, their fruits are still tasty.

Ate the two smallest Cantaloupes, as the leaves are all beginning to brown and wither. I thought they wouldn't be good, as they were half the size of the two previous fruits, and their skins looked funny- thick web of lines over them. But the little melons were perfect inside- bright orange, sweet flesh. It's encourage me to try growing them again next year!

update

Still lots of Tomatoes, the Green Beans have really slowed down. Some plants don't have any new beans at all, when I check them again. Picked a small amount today. The cucumber beetles have moved onto them- I picked off several, and a stink bug, and yanked out a few plants that were pretty heavily damaged. Cut off all the wilted leaves, and threw in trash. Hopefully it doesn't spread. Looks like the Cantaloupe is done, too- it's getting too cool. The two melons left aren't getting any larger and I want to eat them before the bugs do.

success

Have I conquered the cucumber beetles? or is the cooler weather of fall doing them in? I don't find many on the plants anymore, and the smallest Zucchini plant is putting up new leaves. Yesterday we had some jumbo shrimp for dinner, so I crushed the shells and dug them into the dirt around the heirloom Tomato plants. Heard they like extra calcium while fruiting. Maybe a little late for that, though. Loads of the fall Beets are coming up!