10/17/10 - Fall Garden

On October 6th, I purchased some fall plants - various types of lettuce, swiss chard, broccoli, cauliflower, and collard greens. We finally got to planting only 11 days later! It took us that long due to rain and the schedules of the neighborhood kids. On the 11th, the kids started plucking tomatoes so that we could clean the boxes out. It took us another week to finally get to it. It took us an hour to clean out the the spring garden and then plant our fall plants. I'm glad the kids were able to participate (I was at the point where I had to plant regardless of what the kids were up to).

It was really interesting to see how deep some of the root systems were ... especially the tomatoes. I'm glad I made our boxes deep and I'm guessing that our plants got so big because of the depth.

It will be fun to see how these fall plants take hold. I hope that we get a good result even though we've waited so long. Our temps are pretty warm, so we may be lucky!

Next time I see the kids, we'll have to put some seed down, too. We planted in record time because most of the gang had to go to swimming! :-)

10/05/10 - Getting Chilly!

The kids surprised me this evening with a garden visit! They were interested in what was happening with our garden. We've had LOTS of rain lately. So, they haven't had a lot of time outside. There were some tomatoes and it was fun to see that another green pepper was springing late in the game.
I know I'm behind in the curve ... but, now that the rain is done for the week, I'm going to go to the nursery to see if I still have time to do something with our boxes before winter hits. (If I'm too late, it will be a learning moment - right?)((YES, I KNOW I'M LAME!!!!)

9/26/10 - Pizza Pictures from Friday Night

Friday evening, I got a text from Kelly, my neighbor and friend (and big supporter of Project Big Hugs). She was in need of some basil for her dinner. When she came over to harvest some of the yummy herb, I pushed some tomatoes on her (heck, she was making homemade pizza -- you've got to have fresh tomatoes!).

I'm so glad she took pictures of the process so that I could post them. She said it was one of the best pizzas ever! :-)

Fresh ingredients really make a difference, don't they!

Thanks, Kelly!

9/25/10 - Afternoon Watering

A couple friends came by to water. They also discovered a new watermelon growing. During their visit, one of the gardeners suggested that I build more boxes so that we can grow more stuff. :-) (In case there is any doubt, there will be NO MORE BOXES!!)

At some point this week, I'm going to get some Fall plants for us.

9/22/10 - End of a Season

Since school started, the neighborhood kids have been scarce. Their days are longer while our daylight is shorter. The garden is also winding down with just tomatoes here and there.

I FINALLY realized that it's time for me to just go to the nursery and get our fall selection instead of trying to round up the whole crew. If I don't, we'll miss the chance. Luckily, our temps are still very warm (90's today and the rest of the week. More of the same next week, too.) so I may be able to pull it off this next planting season after all.

My next post will hopefully be pictures of what I've bought. (I'm shooting for tomorrow!)

Until then, have fun!

BIG HUGS!

9/18/10 - Quiet Harvest

It's been kind of quiet here at the garden ... The kids have been busy with school and after school activities like soccer and swimming (not to mention homework and all that fun stuff!).

So, I went out to water and clean up a bit on my own. We haven't had much rain in awhile ... so, I gave them a good watering. True to Murphy's Law, we got some rain in the afternoon! :-) I picked a few tomatoes and some hot banana peppers.

The sunflower seeds are drying nicely. I'll have to package them up into an envelop or something soon and store them until Spring. I hope we can make them grow ... the kids will love that these were from our flowers this year.

Have a great weekend!

9/9/10 - Back to School

Tuesday, the kids went back to school. Today is the first time since then that I've seen them outside playing. So far, they're all enjoying their classes and teachers. Soccer and basketball have started up as well. So, our kids are busy.

What's fun, is that they're still discussing and are excited about the fall planting cycle. We're finally getting some cooler temps, especially felt in the evening and morning hours. I'm hoping that Hugo at the nursery has some good news for us regarding their veggie shipment!

Tonight, these guys decided to water the patch and to pick some tomatoes. I like that my little dude next door really loves basil and was pretty curious about the pineapple sage (see the last shots of him and his sister having a taste! Too cute!).

We all thought it was funny that a critter plucked and carried one of the big tomatoes for a snack. Note: The fat tomatoes are in the box furthest from that fence post! What a little bugger! :-)

I'm looking forward to the lemons ripening on my new tree. Hopefully, when the leaves drop on the trees behind the house, I'll get good enough sun exposure to make the plant happy. We shall see....