Wednesday, September 3, 2014

Around the Garden











It is September in the garden, and that means tomatoes, and lots of them. Daily harvests are done, some roasted right away, and others put to sit on the windowsill to ripen a little more. Strawberries are rolling in, enough for a little sweet treat after dinner each night. Do you see those little strawberries, I don't think I have shared them before. They are alpine strawberries that I picked up on a whim last summer. Best decision ever. They are like little pieces of candy, so sweet. My little man was pretty darn proud of the eggplant he picked from his garden late last week for dinner. Watching him eat it was priceless. We still have cucumbers, green beans, zucchinis, Swiss chard, kale, and herbs coming in from the garden, although I do think this week will see the end of the cucumbers, and green beans. I am fighting a losing battle with the powdery mildew, it has just been too wet. I am going to dig it all up this week, with the exception of the pumpkins. Hoping I can save those.

As we put parts of the garden to bed for the winter, other parts are full of life. The cold frame is growing well, and needs to be thinned this week. The two fall/winter raised beds got their tunnel support up this week, and were thinned. I have to admit, putting those tunnels up took the "I feel like a homesteader" feeling up a notch. It feels pretty awesome, and exciting to look outside and see them. We still have a few weeks before we will need to cover them, so for now the light row covers will protect the tender seedlings from bugs, and as it gets cooler we will add the frost protection covers. This is a huge experiment for us this year, it will be very interesting to see how it all works out.

I took a little time this weekend to decorate for fall. The front porch got dressed up with some corn husks, and mums. As soon as I can get my hands on some pumpkins, a little hit of orange will be added. Today, I will add some corn husks to the front fence, and we will be ready for fall around here, outside at least.

How are things around your garden?

27 comments:

  1. Ah, those beautiful strawberries always have the last say! Beautiful fall decor ideas.

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  2. I was trying to work out what it was on your porch, it looks great. The tomato stage of the harvest is always my favourite time in a garden, I could happily eat tomatoes all day long.

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    1. Corn husks :) And thanks! One of my favourite times too, and this year, surprisingly it seems to be never ending.

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  3. Beautiful pictures!!! I am planning my fall decorations too. I want to go pick up some mums. The horrible heat & humidity came back so my fall ideas have taken a back seat to sitting still & try to stay cool! Our garden is loving the heat though. We have so. many. peppers. It's awesome!

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    1. Thanks Jen! We are back with the heat too, suppose to be 40C on Friday with the humidity...more summer than fall, but we will take it. Hope you survive the heat. Enjoy those peppers.

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  4. love the tunnel supports. I roasted some tomatoes the other day and went a bit too long....a learning curve. However I think even though they were a bit charred they would still taste grand spread on a pizza crust.

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    1. Thank you Karen. Those were so easy to do, and I couldn't stop smiling as they went up. Yeah, you have to keep a really good eye on them. I have learned to roast them slowly over low heat, helps to keep them from getting charred.

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  5. Your garden and your home look so pretty Kim. My yard looks like a wild mess, I really must do something about that soon.
    It's so nice to hear how much Reece is enjoying his garden bounty. Emerson's favorite is to grow and eat tomatoes. I found out this past weekend that she is not a fan of spinach!

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    1. Thank you Tracey. He just loves having his garden, and checking in on it. I do have to help a little, usually in the middle of the growing season when the fun of planting has worn off, but the fun of harvesting hasn't started yet :)

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  6. Looks great Kim! I just wrote a big ol' comment and then blogger didn't let me publish it-- hope you don't get two from me.
    Anyways, powdery milder is a problem here right now too and it has been a dry and hot summer with almost no rain. I make sure to water from below and not get the leaves wet. Next year I would like to try and build a frame so that teh squash leaves are all up off the ground and not touching the soil-- I am thinking that maybe the powdery mildew can overwinter in the soil and stick around for multiple summers.....

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    1. Thanks Taryn. Oh no! I hate when that happens.

      Thanks for the tips, we do water from the bottom, and I rotate crops every season. It seems to hit us every year at this time of year, and all the hail damage they leaves got from the storm a month ago definitely weakened the plants. I was trying to keep it at bay with a little homemade spray of dish soap, water and baking soda, but I have lost the battle. No big deal, we got a ton of zucchini, and I looked today, I think I can manage to save the pumpkins. Fingers crossed.

      And thank goodness the farmers at the market with have squash :)

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  7. So much fantastic garden bounty! your garden is truly fantastic Kim and your house looks so beautiful too - love the fall decorations.
    I'd love to grow tomatoes but it gets quite cold here at night even in the summer, do you grow yours under glass?

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    1. Thank you so much Emma.

      No, we don't. They grow in the garden, without cover. The last few summers we have seen some cooler nights creeping into August, making our harvest time a little later. I really hope the temperatures don't change so much that we will need to grow them inside. That will mean a lot of work, but I guess the bonus is no bugs :)

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  8. I'll have a post up tomorrow about my garden. But things are going well. I wish I could move a whole lot fast but we have to work in budget and so it will be slower than I want. But things are growing!

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    1. Can't wait to see it KC. Ah, yes the budget, we have one of those too :) It always determines how much we can, and can't do.

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  9. How alive your garden still is... ours is winding down. A few tomatoes here and there, a few greens, a few cucs. It seems just as ours is coming to an end, yours is exploding with riches! Enjoy the harvest!

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    1. There is lots of life left in it still, and we will enjoy it as long as we can. It has been a good season, despite a few issues, mainly that big hail storm, and some bugs. But overall no complaints at all. xo

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  10. Things are slowing down in our garden, lots of blackberries and a few beans left. And my wild zucchini of course :)) We'll set up a green house next year, then we'll be able to have a more reliable harvet, as our climate is not ideal for many vegetables, i.e. tomatoes.
    I am loving your porch, especially the colour of the trim around the door and windows, gorgeous!!

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    1. It is that time of year isn't it. The wild blackberries are just starting here, we went picking yesterday. So sweet.

      Thank you. It was a bold colour choice, and we love it!

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  11. Oh what a harvest! Wonderful! I really love your garden...

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  12. everything looks so delicious!!! i didn't have much of a garden this year but my flowers are producing a lot of seeds so i'm busy collecting those. somehow i don't want to decorate for fall yet, i'm still trying to hold on to summer for just a little while...

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    1. Thank you Simona. That is great, I have been collecting some flower seeds too, this is the time of year for that. I would like to hold on too, but Mother Nature is telling me something different...the leaves are changing, the mornings are cool, and slowly the trees are releasing their leaves. It is coming.

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  13. What a harvest! Such bounty! And I looove the colours of your house :) xo

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    1. Thank you Renee. You will have to come and see the house in person one day :)
      xo

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  14. your gardens are ever impressive, but the front of your home is always a star. It just looks so inviting. Wish you lived closer. Be well.

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    1. Awe, thanks. I wish you lived closer too, I bet we would spend a lot of time together. xo

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