What Did You Do In The Garden?

[flowerbug]

picked the last of the green peppers (the 4th time picking) and there were even a few small hot peppers so those are also in the box. many of the peppers i picked will not be super good for eating fresh out of hand but they'll be fine for salsa or used in cooking. my brother is supposed to stop over tomorrow and he wanted what we had left so he can take these.

checked the lima beans for dry pods, not enough there to bother with and i also checked the last of the Purple Dove beans for dry pods and picked a few dozen pods but that was all i cared to bother with too. i have so many of these already to shell out that i can leave a few behind now. when i go out to turn things under i'll grab whichever pods that still have decent beans left in them but it's ok if they get turned under and become worm food. worms need some bean love too.

 

[SPedigrees]

I managed to get some areas "mowed" with the battery powered trimmer. This shot of the barn area doesn't look like much but vines and seedling trees had been colonizing the area around, and even in the barn, and I reclaimed the territory. Also I trimmed the picnic area so I can have one last cookout before winter sets in, removed a woven blanket of weeds around the raised vegetable bed, and trimmed the worst of weed growth in the dogs' yard.

I was going to empty the two raised beds of plants, but the tomato plants surprised me with yet another bowlful of tiny tomatoes, and the marigolds looked too pretty to pull up. I emptied all the porch plants except for geraniums that seem determined to continue blooming until first frost, and I brought all the wind chimes indoors for winter. The rain was supposed to begin after 3PM this afternoon, but so far has held off. It can rain all it wants because I'm finished for now with outdoor tasks. I have a lot more trimming to do, but it can wait until later this fall, and may be easier once there is a hard frost and the weeds die off.

I also potted up a slip from one of the geraniums which I had rooted in a glass of water. My coleus plant is leggy and disheveled (from lack of light) and I'm keeping it alive long enough to collect seeds from it (it's blooming now). Then I will replace it and the geranium will be my winter houseplant.

We all had dinner and the string trimmer's batteries are soaking up power on the chargers in the cellar. I'm totally pooped and working on a third beer. Mabel never got a walk today but I have promised her we will walk tomorrow, even if it means walking in the rain which it probably will.

 

[Rhodie Ranch]

I simply adore that flag! And how deeply green everything is!!

 

[SPedigrees]

I simply adore that flag! And how deeply green everything is!!

Thank you! I like that flag also. Actually greens are fading into dried out yellows and browns at this point. This photo from a few years ago of the same view shows more vibrant summertime greens.

 

[ducks4you]

I looked at it. I have 3 cucumbers. Pretty amazing since I planted SO LATE.
Also, I harvested enough sweet peppers to make the chili for last Saturday's Salsa Party.

 

[flowerbug]

planted my garlic patch for next season. at least i got something done today outside. felt good to move the bod.

 

[Phaedra]

Hedge work starts.

 

[Blueberry Acres]

Today I staked my dahlias and did some fall clean-up. Fall cleaning is such a big project!

 

[flowerbug]

i enjoyed a nice day of perfect weather for doing some digging/garden cleanup and got a bunch of bean pods buried in the garden so they can be recycled by the worms into more beans next year.

i wish i had been able to stay out longer but three hours was plenty as my body hasn't been doing much digging the past several weeks. so i listened to it when it said it was tired enough.

since the garlic patch is planted in this same garden with what i got done today i'm about 1/3 to halfway done and it's not in that bad of shape so the next round should go quicker. depending upon weather now for what i can get done before the season closes in. too much rain will certainly make things tougher. we'll see how it goes...

 

[Branching Out]

I turned two compost bins, and then cut up lots of spent sunflower and dill stalks to add to a third compost bin. Then I dethatched the lawn, a favourite activity of mine. We use a little SunJoe machine, and it does a wonderful job of raking out lots and lots of thatch. Tomorrow we will make a run to the green waste facility, to drop off the huge pile of thatch that we raked up.