September Update - Rain!

This has been a very hot, dry summer. After a more than unusually cool and wet spring, a late planting of the garden, then early hot dry weather, this year the garden has barely hung on and not produced a whole lot. Now that our fall rain has finally started I am looking to the fall garden to make up for the loss. After no rain for a couple of months, we finally had rain last week - 6 torrential inches in a few hours time! The one road going East out of town was flooded and closed down which meant going around a long way either North or South to get out.

This ditch in front of our house is 20 feet across. The water is really moving fast. Imagine what probably happened to the lettuce seeds that I had just planted out back in the garden!

This pretty little vine is Malabar Spinach. It is an edible perennial. I am very interested in anything that is perennial and edible, and I just read somewhere that Swiss Chard was a perennial! I am very interested in finding out if this is true. Wouldn't it be great if you only had to plant a vegetable garden once?

New growth on roses.

Spider Lilies coming up. I hope to eventually have a lot of these.

Crepe Myrtle Still blooming.

Its a small thing, but, hey, anything that will bloom this time of year is all right with me.

Day lilies this year put on a poor show. I am hoping that a good fertilizing in October will help for next year. But wait did I say that these bloom in the FALL like clockwork every July 23rd? I love them.

Turk's cap in full bloom. We see a hummingbird in these every day. They are right out side the dining room window and I can see them from my seat.

Pyracantha, otherwise know as fire thorn. The great thing is that you have to actually be allergic to them for the thorns to bother you, and I'm not. I love anything that blooms in the fall and has berries! Robins love these. This shrub has gotten so over grown that a major pruning is due once the berries fall in the winter, something I don't look forward to as, even though I am not allergic, thorns are still thorns! How will I protect the trash men from these?

My one annual plant is responding well to the rain. I am usually too lazy to plant annuals - Thanks for Giving me this Gail!

Shot of the pitiful garden. You can see squash on the left, broccoli, swiss chard, rocket and kale left over from spring on the right, tomatoes and peppers looking worse for ware, Okra going strong.

Other side of the garden. Lima beans, peppers, tomatoes and okra and a cucumber plant that so far has given us one tiny cucumber.

One morning after the rain I found a bunch of prints on the ground around the overflow to the rain barrels. I found cat, dog (we don't own a dog) and strange large bird prints. I mean a really large one legged bird! I don't know what it was, but it looked like the cat chased the bird up the tree!? Weird. There was also evidence that some creature, probably a possum, was digging in the vegetable garden for grubs. It must have been an interesting night out there!

What I planted so far this month: butternut squash, deluxe baby lettuce mix, spinach, swiss chard. I am hoping that my tomatoes and peppers will begin producing again and that the broccoli will also produce something.

August Pictures

Black-eyed Susans and Purple Cone Flowers

You can see how much the grasshoppers have devoured the Irises.

A lonely Rose of Sharron. 

This summer was so hot and dry that nothing really bloomed spectacularly.

Turks cap just beginning to bloom.

Hummingbirds love these.

Rain Lilies

There were at least ten of these cabbage butterflies feeding at the blooming oregano at once. I know I should "hate" these, but they have such a twinkly cheerful way of flitting around the garden. I took dozens of pictures but nothing did them credit.

More Cabbage butterflies.

I canned some pickled okra and banana peppers. 

It was really easy because you packed the jars with all the ingredients and seasonings, then poured boiling vinegar over them. Then just seal and boil in a water bath for ten minutes. Simple and uncomplicated, plus you can do a few jars at a time as you get the produce from your garden. Each jar has either okra or banana peppers, or both, a clove of garlic, a hot chili pepper, salt and dill seed. We have already tried these and they are good.

In August I planted more Lima beans and more squash. So far no stink bugs.