Ahhh September. You have my heart. Last week a neighbor stopped by to introduce herself and to gift us a beautiful hanging flower basket for our front door. The neighbor had planted a ton of hanging baskets in the spring for a backyard wedding they had just hosted at their home a few weeks ago and she wanted to share all the leftovers.
How kind was that? And the hanging basket? Not only was it the PERFECT size to hang right in front of our door, but the colors were spot on, don’t you think?
Our home has about 5 or 6 hanging basket hooks {on the front, back and side of the house} and although I didn’t have enough time to put baskets together this year, next year I’m totally going to copy the plants from the hanging basket were were gifted.
Gordy. Isn’t he beautiful? And he’s a heavy sucker too. I’ve been checking on him everyday lately and am AMAZED that he is still hanging there by that teeny tiny vine. Mother Nature, she’s pretty cool.
How is your garden doing these days? Is it on the way out? We had a heavy rain storm yesterday and although it gave the ground a good drink, it sort of beat all the plants down. 😉
Oh well, it’s not like there is much trying to flower these days anyways.
Late bloomers: Red pear tomatoes. They’re hanging in there.
Rather than pick our last round of Kentucky pole beans, I’ve decided to let them go to seed. Hopefully I’ll be able to save enough for next year so I won’t have to buy any.
I can’t recommend the Arapaho pepper enough. The flavor, size, shape and sturdiness are all spot on. It’s a hot pepper, but it’s also sweet and it gives recipes just enough kick, it’s totally worth putting it on your seed list for next year.
Plus, I hear they are easy to dry, so we are giving it a try.
And garlic. Have you bought your seed garlic yet? Rather than paying big bucks {like $4 a head!} from a seed company online, I decided to go ahead and purchase this bundle of organically grown {no spray!} garlic for $10 at a local farmer’s market. I’ll plant the garlic in a few weeks and look forward to a nice bed of green popping up through the snow next spring.
And our sweet potato patch. It came back from the bunny munchathon and even though I have no idea how much we’ve got growing underground, I think it will be fun to harvest our first crop in a few weeks.
Swiss chard has been on the dinner menu all week. I’d love to try and keep the chard covered from frost and snow this winter, but I’m sort of looking forward to break from the garden so I’ve been pulling it up and tossing it in the coop for the fluffy bottoms to enjoy.
And check this out….. It’s been a little over a week and we have collected 11 eggs. Two of our hens are laying {Hilda and Martha}. I wonder who {and what color of egg} will be next.
Fall in New England. So far, I’m loving it!
Have a wonderful Wednesday everyone,
~Mavis
Carrie Council says
I just love the little eggs from new layers!
Julia says
I love the bench in the chicken coop! You and Lucy can hang out with the girls!
Karen S Picoult says
Mavis… curious minds want to know… do you ever save your produce leftovers (i.e. scraps, tops of strawberries, cores of apples, cores of pears etc. but NO onions, celery or citrus scraps) to give to your chickens? Our son and DIL have hens and they love the scraps! We save them in bags, freeze them and pass them on. The hens love them even frozen on a hot day. Our son un-bags the scraps,dumps it on the ground, gives it a good stomp to bust it up and the ladies go after it in a frenzy. (Granted… they do not compost. and I know these scraps could be composted.) Just wondering.
Mavis Butterfield says
Yes! I chop up our scraps for the chickens, they love them. 🙂
Alice says
I can’t believe you still have the eggs. Don’t you want to eat them? I’d gobble them up right away.
Brenda says
With a little research, you may be able to save that basket over the winter and have it next year too. I bet the hanging stuff is a hardy ground cover. The tall one looks like a dahlia, they go dormant over the winter. and the flowy flowers look like a trailing verbena. That one might come back with a heavy trim in the fall. Store it in the basement/cool, low light area and see what happens. It might be a fun experiment! (You will need to use fertilizer next year as the soil will be spent after this summer.)
Cathy says
Looks like you are having great fun with everything! (I know it’s actually hard work) Maybe it’s time to get bees? Fascinating to watch, they’ll pollinate your garden plus there’s the side benefit of honey. Don’t plan on getting rich off honey sales but you’ll definitely have enough for your own use plus a few bottles to share every year.
Susie says
I love the idea of having bees, but I think I remember you saying you’re allergic to them, Mavis, am I right?
Mavis Butterfield says
Yes! Crazy allergic. 🙁 I would love honey but can’t risk it.
debbie in alaska says
Fall in New England will make every single annoying, frustrating, itchy, crawly, rashy thing worth it. There is nowhere the compares to New England in the fall — especially where you are. It’s your sweet reward after a not so easy summer.
Claudia A Uccello says
I moved to Florida this year and had an accident which kept me from coming back this summer. I am praying we will be able to return this spring and stay through Sept. and half of October. the fruits and veg here look perfect and HAVE NO FLAVOR!! can’t wait to get back to CT for decent fruits and veg.
Paula Gooding says
Mavis, Check out Stacy & Doug at Off-the Grid you tube for his experiment with sweet potatoes yield – in ground vs raised beds. Super interesting. And if you don’t follow these two’s life living off the grid…I think you’ll find some inspiration from these two.
Greta says
I think you may have 3 hens laying! That odd blue one belongs to another hen! I read that individual hens do not lay different shades. They stay the same! So you have a green Egger, a blue Egger and a brown! Very lovely in the carton!
Mavis Butterfield says
Just two are laying right now. Hilda laid the first three pale green eggs in a row with light brown speckles {the speckles got lighter and fewer with each egg laid} and then her eggs were all a pale solid green. The egg that looks blue is warm, and the other pale green ones were in the fridge so the color looks a bit different for that reason. Once the egg was chilled, they all looked the same.
That being said, I believe we do have 2 blue layers in our flock and we are excitedly awaiting their eggs.
Greta says
Oh and the freckled ones are from a separate one as well- and the freckle pattern is a lifelong patter- or so I’ve read! You may have more Laying than you think!
Lisa Rostocki says
Ahhh and now you have discovered the magical season and the reason that so many people love New England…the Fall!! I miss it. I hope you enjoy it and savor every new and magical moment of it. If you get a change go to the Highland Games this weekend it is not too far from you and it is really fun! A great way to spend a fall afternoon. The last time I went I ate Scottish shortbread and rode the ski lift taking in the amazing views all day!
Karin says
Sweet potatoes require a long growing season so it will be interesting to see if you get any. They grow well for me here in Florida. A side note: a few years ago I learned that sweet potato leaves can be cooked and eaten like spinach. We love it! It’s apparently common in Asia but I had never heard of it until recently.
Kara says
You sound chipper again and that makes me happy! 🙂
Mavis Butterfield says
Feeling chipper!! 🙂
Ann says
Glad you feel better and that you are enjoying your parents’ visit. I hope we will soon see them in pics of the finished chicken coop & run.
JoAnn Young says
I just visited New England myself from Florida this week! I’ve followed you for quite some time now. I had never been to New England and my friend who lives there said September is her favorite month. She took me on the most wonderful tour of fresh markets and orchards!
Mel says
It was a very odd garden year for us. Many veggies started producing late because of a cold spring, so our cucumbers and peppers only just now got going, and we didn’t get nearly as many green beans. We’ve also had sustained, heavy rains for the entire summer, so we had a lot of plant damage from that. Our tomatoes are still going, but they’ve slowed down, and I kind of want to pull them. We did have our best garlic harvest ever, though, and our blueberries produced for the first time.
I really want it to be fall, but it’s still in the 80’s. I have a few cool season veggies planted, but I need to get more and replace what bolted in the heat, and I need to clear all the summer stuff out. Next summer, I’m scaling back the tomatoes slightly and refining our top varieties, and I need to work on a trellis system between beds. I’m also taking a break from all squash as it seems to not want to grow in our yard.
Stacey says
Such pretty eggs!
Diane says
Speaking of the chilled eggs, I recently read that eggs don’t need to be refrigerated IF they are not washed, Many other countries, including England I believe, leave their eggs on the counter because they are not washed before being sold the way ours are in the US. But once they are washed, then they MUST be refrigerated. That would be good to know in case you want to sell some at your farm stand. Put a note on them that they are not yet washed so safe to be unrefrigerated. Probably still best to have cooler weather, not in the heat of the summer.
Norma Mason says
Have you tried sauteing the sweet potato leaves? They are very tasty.
Mavis Butterfield says
No, not yet. Maybe when we harvest the sweet potatoes.
Jamie says
That hanging basket is Amazing!