freeze warning

it looks as if the wonderful warm weather is coming to an end.  we have our first freeze warning of the season tonight.  darry and i had to bring in the plants that have been outside for the season.  now the cats will have something to do-shred my plants.  lucy is quite fond of lemon grass and the plant was looking beautiful and full if you recall earlier posts, she will have plenty of it to chew on.  

we harvested some of the pak choi and asparagus.  last winter the pak choi did fine in the garden during the cold months and we are hoping it survives the frost.

knowing that the old tomato vines wouldn't make it through the freeze, darry took them out and he picked all of the tomatoes on them.  we now have a large basket of tomatoes wrapped in paper in the basement.  we are hoping that they will ripen slowly and not all at once so that we can enjoy them. 

we also had to pull some of the pepper plants.  they were loaded with fruit.  as you can see here, we have some produce to eat.  

over in the lettuce patch we have a nice variety of greens to pick from.  here in the sink is a mix of mizuna, lolla rosa, garden cress, oaky red splash, italienischer and lau's pointed leaf.

weathering the change

since fall has finally arrived, things are looking a little different in the garden.  seeds are ready for harvest and plants are shutting down for the coming of winter.  the mums are in full bloom and the trees are shedding their leaves.  soon, it will be time to rake them all up and place them in the bin for next years compost piles.  even so, there is still plenty of things to look at and enjoy.

in the herb garden, the salvia is still blooming, not bad for a cheap 6pack of annuals!

the thai basil and thyme are still going strong as well

when the girls went to italy with linda last year, they brought back tomato seeds.

we were late in planting them and they did not do well in a bucket.  planting them in the garden among the other plants has given them the chance to take off.  we hope to keep them going long enough to try the tomatoes that the plant has set.

this has been a good year for our little miniature roses

when the cardoon was done blooming, i cut it back to the ground.  it is coming back nicely along with the catnip that we thought was long dead.  the two plants look nice with the grosso lavender.

the pineapple sage and the nasturtiums are doing a wonderful job of covering up the 

air conditioner.  next year i will plant more nasturtiums to do it again.

the asparagus plants had been allowed to grow up into large ferns and when they began to

yellow, we cut them back.  much to our surprise, they immediately began to send up shoots.

for the first time in 4 years, we will actually be able to harvest them and cook them for dinner!

up until this week, we have had such warm days and nights that i never thought to bring in

my christmas cactus.  it wasn't doing well, it lost several large branches and others look awful.

but the lousy condition of some of the plant has not stopped it from setting flower buds.

looks like i will have a halloween cactus this year!

oktoberfest

according to the calendar, it is officially fall. but out in the garden, it is still late summer.  the ground is still warm enough that it is making it difficult to get lettuce and greens to germinate.

we are also still picking plenty of peppers.  these are bells that if left long enough, they will be yellow.

our little artichoke did absolutely nothing all summer and is finally growing.

the only thing that is flourishing right now are the cooking greens. from the left, turnips, two types of pak choi and red mustard.

the year's herb garden was huge, despite the drought.  we had so many plants get too large and next year we will have to plant them in different areas.  the flamingoes have been residing in the herb garden this fall.

hard to believe but today i was out picking tomatoes, these are big beef

the chocolate cherry is still in production

this weeks pick

it is october and the heat is finally subsiding although you wouldn't know it this week.  we had temps up in the mid-high 80's.  we also got some rain today, we have gone about 4 weeks without a drop so this is a much needed change.  despite the fact that it is october, our garden is still producing, small amounts, but we are still picking peppers and tomatoes.

if you leave banana peppers on the bush long enough, they get a nice red color

mizuna on top, italienischer in the middle and garden cress on the bottom

we are once again attempting to over winter greens

this will probably be the end of the tomatoes, even so, the big beef is hanging on

not bad for october

the tomatoes are cherokee purple, ananas noire, mortgage lifter and big beef

red banana peppers and yellow ones too

pak choi and assorted greens