one fewer

A few days ago I noticed one of my guppies wasn't feeding, but just hanging around at surface. Then was always in the corner by the heater- 

and closer look saw it's very bloated. I fasted the tank two days and fed cooked pea bits after, but this fish never ate. 

I moved it to a container with plants, because I didn't want the others to pick at it, if it's contagious. I thought about giving epsom salt bath, but then the fish lost eqilibrium

and the end was not long after.

So now only seven little bright blue guppies.

a small final harvest

Lettuces-

Leaf beet and swiss chard-

Amaranth greens- they're small but I was determined to pick all the leaves we can eat before cold gets them.

Lemon balm- I cut the plant back again, and heaped it with crumbled dry leaves against the chill. All the smaller sprigs in a jar of water and espresso cup, to keep fresh for my tea tonight.

Pulled the rest of the carrots. Dunno why one is white?

Cleaned and going into the fridge-

A few more cherry tomatoes I found when removing the vines from the bed the other day- maybe some of them will ripen in the windowsill.

Pulled all the bean plants, too. Filled a large bowl with all the beans still on there- those still tender enough I cooked to eat, the dry ones got split open for seed, and the ones in middle stages tossed into the compost. 

Seed. Why are some of them squarish? I'm curious. I have well enough for twice the amount I usually grow, for several years! and this was just the pods that were mature enough of their own accord, when I pulled the vines. Maybe next year I'll deliberately set aside the most vigorous or healthy-looking ones to save thus.

still outside

Two little tatsoi- just big enough to eat now.

I didn't realize the alyssum would last so long! it makes a nice sweet scent only discernible up close

What do you know, I thought the little hellebores up front were all gone, but two are still alive

Columbine behind the row of fading coleus, too- some small

Others larger and sprawling

The first garden bed looks pretty empty now with the bean poles all taken down

Warm days have confused my clematis? It has new leaves sprouting, even as the plant is covered in dry brown leaves

It's got lots of tender buds, too. I hope it can go dormant again and still regrow in spring okay.

recent eats

two small burgers- doesn't look that impressive, but there are three home-grown herbs mixed in the patties (sage, summer savory and parsley), two slices of tomato and lettuce on there all from the garden. (And I made the buns from scratch, which is getting a bit easier each time.

Final cooking of purple-podded pole beans- I find I like them better when I simmer them longer with a bit of butter. It was a side dish last night.

This morning for breakfast I tossed tatsoi and these tiny sage leaves in some eggs- sage overpowered the other green, but it was still good!

foolish?

Last days of my nasturtiums-

I moved them into pots a few days ago- the weather was still so mild- so I could cover the window boxes with leaf mulch and wire (to keep the squirrels from digging there) but few days later it got very cold and they died anyway of course, oh well.

Some seed- 

I gathered them but they're still green, so don't know if mature enough.

This year instead of leaving pots with dirt in them out on the deck or underneath stacked - from where herbs and coleus came out- I put them on the shelves in my little greenhouse. So the squirrel doesn't keep burying things in them making a mess. The plastic sheeting on the greenhouse has torn in places, but that's okay I'll just rewrap it in spring as usual.

I tidied up the stand of echinacea seedheads. Don't like the look of all the blackened withered leaves hanging in tatters, plus on close inspection they have that faint crystallized glittery look tithonia leaves often got- I bet it's from aphids. And this year my tithonia had far fewer aphid problems, I think because I cleaned up the leaf litter and dying foliage more assidiously.

So I tried to pull off the dead echinacea leaves, but keep the seedheads on for the birds. A bit tricky, since a lot of the leaves fall off or crumble at the touch- much of it fell on the ground. I gathered what I could, it did fill a whole five-gallon bucket for the yard waste pickup, and if it cuts the aphid problem in half I'll feel I did some good with that.

getting colder

Outside I've cut down all the wilted tithonia, trimmed back the joe pye weed and some pokeweed, cut to the ground most of my peonies.

Most of the coleus are dead from chill now; but these few in the front bed sprouted new leaves during a few warm days after a cold night, so I left them in place for a while- sprigs of brighter green

My two transplanted cranesbill seem to be doing well so far

Other plants I moved this fall: the mountain laurel still looks the same, and rhubarb is flourishing!

Really enjoy the combination of arum and zinnias

Here's that one hellebore that went pale- the crown is growing back slowly, still the normal darker green

Garden is finally starting to die back- it's mostly marigolds now, which have grown even thicker and fuller as the other plants fade

And borage- 

the patch in the first bed is nice and thick

Pole beans are withered now, need to clean those up, and finally cut down the tomatoes, amaranth and sunberry. Still have carrots, chard, and lettuces! 

Tonight I'm going to cut a bunch of lettuce, as in a few days it's supposed to drop below freezing, and that may be the end of them. Maybe I should finally start using row covers to extend the season...

I think of the cuban oregano as a semi-succulent, so I tend to forget how cold-hardy it actually is. The row of them outside the short end of the pole bean bed is doing looking particularly nice right now.

Just noticed today that the bit of ivy on the corner of front yard bed is spreading. Time to cut that one back.

Still have not relocated my black-and-blue salvia. I keep watching for it to wilt; once it goes dormant I'll dig and shift it on the next warm day. But it's still full green and waving blue flags. I'm glad of that, but also kind of wish it would die back already so I can move it.