Weekly Update: October wks 1 & 2

As the days get shorter and the garden winds down, I'm finding that having interesting things to share on the blog is slowing down as well. One of the things that I enjoy so much about gardening watching the whole process come full circle. Last years plants were composted to feed this year's crop which grew from tiny seeds and fed us for month. Now they too have come to and end and are tossed in the compost bin to begin the cycle all over again. There are so few things in life that lend that sort of completeness and satisfaction. There's the sense...

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Weekly Update: September Week 4

This weekend was nearly a wash-out, but I did manage to get in a bit of work in the garden in between rain showers. If everything looks wet in these pictures... its probably because it was wet!New this week are two lovely additions thanks to our recent trip to the NY Botanical Gardens, a lovely fall blooming anemone (two pics on the left) and a painted fern. I originally intended to plant both of these out in the front beds, but I changed my mind...

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New This Week: September Week 4

Well, it's officially almost the end of the main season for the garden. It's kind of shocking to be spending more time pulling things out instead of harvesting. It also visually arresting to see what has been more or less walls of green completely disappear. That said, I did manage another hearty harvest this week. The Kentucky wonder beans are still bearing. I was able to clean and freeze this big batch. The bush beans are done, but the KW's may...

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New This Week: September 20th

The arrival of fall may be imminent, but that doesn't mean NOTHING new is going on in the garden. Thankfully!! Perhaps the most exciting new arrival is the blooming of the fall crocuses. Until last year, I never knew that crocuses bloomed in the fall. Imagine my surprise when these beauties popped up! I was exceptionally excited to see them this year because I had to move them earlier this spring right in the middle of their growth phase. They were...

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Weekly Update: September 20th

Well this weekend marked the last weekend of summer. Still quite a bit of activity going on in the garden, even as signs are starting to point towards the winding down of the season. The white flies and aphids won the battle for the tomatoes, so I had to end up just cutting them all down. Next year I'll be better prepared to wage war. They just got to far out of control before I had a chance to fight back! The photo on the right shows the bed now...

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Critters & Creatures

In addition to all of the amazing plants and yummy veggies this summer, the garden has also been literally PACKED with really fascinating creatures big and small. Some are really fascinating and some are extremely annoying, but I guess its like most things in life. You take the good with the bad! Here are just a few of the non-plant highlights from September that I've been delinquent in posting. (I was out of town for a whole week, so give me a break!!)This...

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Weekly Update: August Week 4

I've been waging war on the white fly infestation in my tomato plants for the better part of the summer. Just when I think I'm getting ahead of them, they seem to explode. I started out trying not to use pesticides at all, but it was really hard to watch my precious tomatoes just fading away with my natural remedies doing little if anything to stop them. I finally decided to go with the "if you can't beat them join them" approach and try fighting...

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New This Week: August Week 4

Still playing catch-up! This past week marked the second major harvest of the Roma tomatoes. As you can see, we had quite a few - 9.5 Pounds! Crazy!!! Jason turned all these lovelies into sauce. We sampled it on Tuesday night for the first time and it was absolutely delicious! Made in the oven to caramelize and then run through a food mill to process out the skins. It has a wonderfully rich flavor. I'm hoping we can get enough to make a few more...

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Weekly Update: August Week 3

I spent most of the time this week trimming up the never ceasing ivy plants and trying to tame the grape vines which never make grapes but insist on attempting to dominate the fence line and everything in a five foot radius. Not exactly the most photogenic of developments, so I figured I'd just give you a couple of visual updates. The photo at the left is of the two large pots along the street. If you remember (or visit older posts) these were originally...

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New This Week: August Week 3

On the non-consumable side this week was the installation of a new evergreen specimen the cryptomeria japonica:This is a beautiful slow growth cedar native to Japan (as the name might suggest!). This particular cultivar has a very unique branching habit. The branches extend out into what to me looks like pom-pom clusters of the needles. Eventually this should be a nice round mound. I needed to get some more winter-hardy stuff going so that as the...

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Weekly Update: August Week 2

Just a quick week 2 update since we're already half way through August week 3! (Slacking I know!)I know the photo is a bit blurry, but I thought I'd post a quick snapshot of one of the other critters enjoying the garden. Jason was impressed by the size of this guy, according to him its the largest spider he's ever seen "in the wild". (I told him that it was obvious that he didn't grow up in Arizona! I've squished much bigger!) I'd peg his size at...

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New This Week: August Week 2

Ok.... so I'll admit that I'm starting to get a bit worn out by ALLLLLL the fresh produce! (Really? Did I say that???) Well maybe just tired of the weekly photo session. This week I admit I just started washing, packing, and eating stuff instead of gathering everything together for the obligatory photo. (Hey... I had to cram the entire weekend of work into 4 hours... so take it easy on me!)I did capture a few interesting things though:After one rather...

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Weekly Update: August Week 1

Lots going on this week to be sure!I turned a vast portion of last week's tomatoes, onions, and peppers into some fresh salsa. It was delicious. I think next time I'll add a bit more salt, but other than that it was pretty good for my first ever attempt! (I forgot to take a picture... but trust me... it looked good too!)Not a lot new on the veggie front, everything is producing like crazy, but not much new to see. There are some other fun developments...

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