Things have really begun to slow down in the garden. This week my big goal is to clear out the squash patch and get the area ready for next spring.
The leaves are beginning to fall around the neighborhood and I plan to scoop up as many leaves as I can and add a nice layer of leaf litter in my garden and perennial flower beds. Before I can do that though I need to get a bunch of weeds pulled and move them over to the compost pile. 
The hosta plants I transplanted this summer are beginning to die back. Are yours too? I’m hoping this is normal for this time of year {and that my plants are not dying, just hibernating}. 
I planted a couple of packets of poppy seeds this summer and so far so good. Poppies usually take a year or two to get established but I’m hoping their tiny taproots will hang in there during the cooler months and I’ll get a few flowers next year.
Mmm Mmm beets! 
Rotting squash vines… a puggle delicacy.
Are you still harvesting tomatoes? 
I LOVE fall, and the chilly temps it brings but if I could harvest a few more baskets of ripe tomatoes I’d be one happy camper.
I don’t think the zucchini seeds I planted in early September are going to make it to the fruit stage. My fingers are crossed, but with evening temps in the upper 40’s I’m doubtful.
My neighbor The Church Lady commented on how she’d like to see more people growing vegetables in their front yard. I spent a whopping 5 minutes yesterday weeding my little garden bed {above is the before picture of course}. Oak leaf lettuce is a great decorative lettuce to grow in a front garden bed and it’s pretty darn tasty too.
Rainbow Swiss chard!
Mrs. Hillbilly sent me a text this morning wanting to know if I had any extra for her chickens. Ummm Yes. Yes I do. I’ll happily trade fresh eggs for Swiss chard any day of the week.
What’s happening in YOUR garden lately?
What are you harvesting these days?
~Mavis
This year’s garden is being sponsored by the awesome folks at Botanical Interests Seed Company. You can check out their website HERE, order their new 2015 Garden Seed Catalog, or see the seeds I’ll be growing in my
Susan says
My garden is definitely winding down. Still picking kale, beets and nasturtium. I make kale chips for both
of my daughters. They like nasturtium pesto- and my nasturtiums have had a second run so I will leave
them.
DH pulled all the tomato plants yesterday. LOTS of green tomatoes- but I have made probably too many
pickled green tomatoes already 🙂 I will plant only a couple of the little yellow pear tomatoes next
year. We literally had THOUSANDS of them! I had at least 10 plants of those- way too many!!
Also picked pumpkins yesterday. A few of the pie pumpkins and a few regulars.
DH wants to rototill in the next couple of days – so we spent the weekend cleaning up.
LaceFaerie says
Susan: nasturtium pesto? Wow! That must be peppery & yummy! Please share your recipe!
Susan says
It is peppery and really good! I freeze it in ice cube trays to use later.
Nasturtium Pesto
2 Tablespoons pine nuts (I get these in bulk at WinCo)
2 cups packed nasturtium leaves (use the flowers in salad!)
1 green onion (or a few strands of chive)
1/2 cup shredded pecorino cheese
7 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Salt (optional)
Toast the pine nuts in a dry skillet over medium low heat until golden – 2-3 minutes. Watch carefully – don’t want to burn them! 🙂
Using a food processor, grind up the pine nuts finely. Add nasturtium, onion and cheese. Process until the mixture is smooth and thick.
While the machine is running, slowly add the olive oil and process until well mixed. Taste to see if you want to add salt.
Mavis Butterfield says
Thanks for sharing Susan!! 🙂
Julie says
Can you please explain what the process is for leaf litter? Do you mix it in? Break up the leaves before adding them to your beds? I have an abundance of leaves and would like to put them to use! Thank you!
Bea says
My giant hosta are also dying back and I’ll probably cut them down next week, before they melt into mush.
.
The cedar trees are starting the annual browning and will soon start to dump lots of mini branches. It means raking for a month.
I planted a little rosemary start about 3 years ago and holy cow, that thing went bonkers and is about 5 feet tall and more than that in circumference. It’s taken over the small garden plot. It smells so good. I put a few little branches in a vase every week so I can inhale the scent when I do dishes.
Do you think it will die if I whack it down to 2 feet all around? Should this be done in fall or spring?
Thanks for your help.
Hilary says
We purchased our home in July and threw some of our potted plants (jalapenos, orange bell peppers, cherry toms, and siletz slicing toms, and a whole bunch of herbs) into the beds in our yard which are mostly occupied by roses. My husband and I built a raised bed in time to sow a variety of lettuces, some spinach, and beets. But whenever I check on my beets, the previous day’s seedlings are gone, and all the scratching points to birds. Any tips on keeping birds out of the garden? I’ll be lucky if I get 5 seeds out of the 20-30 we could’ve gotten.
Oh, and we still have a few jalapenos to harvest, 4 bell peppers that may never turn orange, and a couple dozen green cherries to pick this week before I pull all the plants up. Love your updates! Your northwest garden inspires me out here in the high prairie of Texas!
Jen says
Oh Mavis…if only you’d take a trip down south to DuPont, I would give you all the leaves you ever wanted! We have at least 12 mature oak trees that will be spitting leaves out faster than I can rake any second. I already have bags full and no where to take them! No joke!
Practical Parsimony says
My Hostas are dying back in Alabama.