It is time to start thinking about tucking in the garden for fall and winter. Things are getting pulled, some seeds are now saved and I’ve realized I (yet again) don’t have all the fall/winter and overwintering crops in that I would like.
September is transition time up here in Seattle. We are still picking some tomatoes and the last of the strawberries. But the summer cucurbita have been pulled, finally having succumbed to powdery mildew and nearing end of production.
Welcome fall.
I’m buried in pole beans. They are threatening to take over.
Really, I can’t pick them fast enough.
Every single day= more beans. So many jars of pickled beans in the fridge.
From surplus to singular apple. I thought our honeycrisp apple produced zero apples this year. But yesterday I noticed this!
But the columnar apple produces reliably well with sweet, crisp apples.
Gorgeous rainbow chard. I should plant beds full of this just to gaze upon. Beautiful isn’t it?
The sunflowers are done. I saved some seeds for us and now the birds are happily gorging themselves.
Here too. Making a mess of the picnic table…but I kinda like it.
Oh kale, I’ve missed you. Yum, yum, yum.
Pickings for the nasturtium-sorrel-parsley pesto I made. (It was fabulous!) I never have enough basil to make true pesto, so tend to use whatever I have in abundance.
Fennel and bees!
The lonely winter squash. It is a variety of acorn squash. We have exactly one.
I simply love this variety of lettuce, though I am not sure what it is. I love the spiky, yet tender, leaves. It is apparently hardy because I dug it up and moved it a few weeks ago. I haven’t been successful doing that with lettuce before.
Patch of lettuce. I can’t seem to grow enough lettuce. I have patches of it everywhere and it is never enough. What can I say? I love lettuce. I love salad. I’m part rabbit.
A friend, Lin, gave me this lovely Peruvian Ground Cherry that was cultivated by a dear friend of hers, Amando Barzola Hidalgo. I can’t remember the name right this moment, but will edit later with the name. Amando was a social justice activist/sustainable technology advocate/farmer so the variety is now known as Physalis peruviana v. Amando Barzola Hidalgo. I will definitely be saving the seeds to carry on this variety!
No garden post is complete with out the chickens. Aspen is clearly distressed that Calypso is yet again facing the morning with a mess of hair.
Annie does not like being looked at while laying an egg. However, it takes her over THREE HOURS to lay her egg. EVERY TIME. After some time has passed I just can’t help taking a peek.
Ah, Mountain Mama. I love this girl. She is so pretty having a little sun time on fresh straw.
They love their daily hand feedings. Here we have Daddy, Calypso, John Denver and Mountain Mama (from upper left, clockwise) pecking at my hand.
Looks like oak leaf lettuce to me. It’s one of my favorites too! It doesn’t seem to go bitter in the heat as fast as some others we’ve grown.
Lovely photos! I’m drowning in beans, too — the family’s getting sick of ‘em for dinner every night, but what’s a gardener to do??
Here in New Zealand we call those ‘Peruvian Groundcherries’ Cape Gooseberry (Physalis peruviana). I love them, a lovely tart-sweet flavour. I’ve got some seeds so you’ve reminded me to pop them in some seed raising mix so I can have some this summer (currently early spring down this end of the planet).
Your chickens are so pretty!
Physalis peruviana, in Colombia, is known as Uchuva. delightful little fruits that should be eaten when the husk and the fruit inside, is golden yellow. and its a perenial as well!
It is perennial? I didn’t know that!
Well, tomatoes are perennials in climates that are warm enough, too. Physalis peruviana only overwinters in WA when protected (if then).
Lin S.
It’s a red oak leaf lettuce. I grow several of these, as well as Emerald Oak leaf lettuce. Burpee carries some seeds, as does John Scheeper’s.
I love that you put the sunflower in the empty bird bath. I will have to try that!
Oh wow, Amando used to bring those ground cherries dipped in chocolate to the coffee shop to share. I also bought delicious sauces from him at the Olympia Farmer’s Market. He was an incredible guy.