late summer harvest: photo update
korith thinning carrots while desertwind picks beans:
korith thinned and weeded that whole row, then he, desertwind & Kit removed the pea trellis fencing. Tristan turned the row, and we planted chard, spinach, lettuce, broccoli, cauliflower and radishes there as fall crops. We also planted buckwheat in the far south bed, which still wants some soil remediation; we will turn that under when we till with the tractor this winter.
meanwhile, we let the turkeys out into the garden to eat bugs. with may & june being so rainy, and the heat not coming on until July this year, the annual squash bug epidemic was a bit late...like, right now, instead of late May. i reached into the squash patch last week and discovered approximately a thousand of the little devils running around under there. i fed a large handful of them to the chickens, but letting the turkeys have their way with the garden for a day seemed like a more comprehensive approach to the problem.
here are the bell peppers and golden amaranth, still rolling in:
watermelon--we have three that i know of coming along, besides the one that is growing through and around the wire fence into the barnyard:
green zebra heirloom tomatoes, which are completely awesome and coming in abundantly now:
that day's harvest:
and the results of that harvest. Home-grown chicken, simmered with our own lima beans, carrots, and corn, served with our own fresh green (and purple) beans, tomatoes, cucumbers & peppers. it was entirely delicious. our second full-house meal straight from the garden!
gaillardia (blanketflower) in the herb garden:
the clean, level, completely ditch-and-pile-of-dirt-free patio area. this represents an enormous amount of work. the greywater ditch has vanished underground, as is proper, and the ground been raked level over it, with excess piles of clay moved into the garden to be mulched into good soil.
and, adjacent to the newly tidy backyard, the new fence! Rev and Evan worked on it all day sunday, and it looks fabulous. Two panels are complete, and the yard around the house is transformed by its solid presence. I do not have a photo of the finished sections yet, but i'll get there. Rev & Kit are going to make a sunflower out of sticks on the front of the two fence panels that flank the gate.
and here is a Golden Orb Weaver, guarding our front door. we had dozens of these when we bought the land, but then we cleared an acre of tall weeds, and didn't see them anymore. we thought we had destroyed too much habitat for them, but this year, they are back! isn't she gorgeous?
my life is made out of fall semester busy-ness and the harvest right now. this weekend, i hope to pick plums at a couple of friends' houses, and freeze them for canning/mead making at next weekend's work party. if i still have energy after that, i'll clean my chimney. winter is certainly on her way. mornings are cold now, and the maximillians are blooming. we are starting the long descent. annual, inevitable, and profoundly regretted, every year.