My Fall Garden

Here is a lot of it, though not all. In the foreground are the sweet potatoes, looking to engulf the chard entirely and probably hiding a whole host of slugs and creeping things. In the middle (messy) bed are the melon plants, volunteers, and also a volunteer milo plant from the birdseed. At the back of the main bed is the cauliflower/ broccoli/ beet/ onion/ radish bed for fall. In the rear bed, across the front there is rosemary, Indian mint, oregano, and thyme. In the middle is one straggling amaranth plant (the others already died) and weeds. Across the back, the tall spindly red things are okra plants. Under the crape myrtles is an experimental spinach and kale bed- no germination noted since last week so far. On the right in front of the crape myrtles ( and growing into them) are my tomato and basil plants, with one volunteer melon in the mess of vines. Then the limas are down the fence row with  carrots, onions, bok choy, lettuces, and eggplant, and a little poke salad and Malabar spinach volunteered from last year. Whew! 

White Thai Eggplant

This should be harvested while white if grown in shade on clay soil. They will turn brown (rot-brown) instead of yellow if left on the plant too long. They do not have seeds if harvested in this way. They are the size of a large marble or a small egg, true to the name. This is a cute plant, more for looks than for edible value.

Cleaning Old Wood Floors

This house came with Original Hardwood Floors, according to the realtor. Abused ones that had served as under-carpet flooring for years. People had ripped out the carpeting, painted without covering the floor to protect from spatters, and even waxed dirt into some places. See the before picture here, from a corner between the fireplace and a radiator cover in the living room.

Here is the "after" picture. I took off the paint spatters with sandpaper and a plastic knife, then wiped with a moist rag and re-waxed. It isn't perfect. I need to work on getting the spatters off close to the wall. I did not have the tools to pry an errant staple still sticking out of the floor. But it is better.

Radishes and Beets

I sowed some seeds among the transplants last week for beets, radishes, carrots, green onions, and lettuces- all cool weather plants that should thrive as the trees lose their leaves and more sun hits the garden, at least until frost. The radishes and some of the other plants are already up! This fall gardening may work out well. We are due to fall into the low 50s at night, with highs in the 70s during the day this week. The dogwood that shades the garden from the south is losing leaves slowly now, with the rest so wilted that a lot of dappled sun gets through the branches. The oaks to the west are still thick with leaves from all the rain, so we'll see if we get enough sun to keep going. 

Carrots

This is a photo of one of my baby carrots. They are coming up well. Sun today! Life is good!

Calm Times in the Garden

It is hard to be patient sometimes. The lima beans will start coming in soon, but the pods have not completely filled out yet. The cole family and other starts I put out there earlier this week are starting to grow. I caught a cutworm at work out there last night and dispatched it, but the plants are still small and vulnerable. I have three small melons developing, but with no sun and cooler temps, they are not ripening. At least they have plenty of water!

These times come, and we have to wait in patience. The Thai yellow eggplants are finally producing! They're just not yellow- they are white. Maybe that means they are under-ripe, and I should leave them on the plant longer. Patience again. 

Must go look again, and watch the beets grow. Slow work, but fun.

Broccoli and Cauliflower

This is my broccoli and cauliflower bed. Two of the plants have been shorn off an inch above ground, with no slime trail. One had the leaves nearby, and looked like it had been cut. I discovered the second today, leaves gone. Both broccoli plants. I am sad, but I hope the rest survive. When I find suspicious looking grubs as I dig the bed, I try to kill them so they will not eat my plants. Did one of them (that I missed) do this?  I don't know. This is my first attempt at fall gardening beyond nursing the summer plants through cooler weather to frost, so it is all experimental. 

Fortunately the slug count is a LOT lower than in the spring, with a few big ones instead of multitudes of small-to-medium ones. I'm still going out every night to observe and to minimize damage, as a big one could theoretically eat lots of baby plants in a night. Hunting with disposable gloves on actually works, and really cuts down on the "I'm-actually-picking-up-a-huge-slug-ICK!" factor. Highly recommended for the small-scale "organic" gardener.