September

Cooler weather

Just in the last week the temperatures have dropped. Some days were highs in the upper 50s, which felt quite chilly, and lows overnight in the upper 30s. It felt pretty sudden to be talking about possible frost already! Our garden season has been interrupted a bit by the fact that we are expecting a new baby any day now, but really the season is far from over, as the very tips of just a few tree branches are starting to change, so we still have the whole beautiful fall season ahead of us, as well as I'm sure still some very warm days.

Farmer Mike

Mike got to try out his dream of selling at a farmer's market this summer. He only sold a few times, and was limited to a less busy market on a weekday, but he learned a lot, and got to network with some other farmers to help learn the business in the area better. The moral of the story is that farming doesn't pay selling at small markets like this around here, even for those who have a much bigger business than Mike, so he will continue to explore options, such as a CSA (community supported agriculture). He also gained more knowledge of the varieties of produce that are more desirable to customers, at least at this particular market.

Another big challenge was pest and weed control utilizing organic practices. The Japanese beetles were a problem for awhile, and then after awhile the weeds just took over. He has some more ideas on how to do things differently next year. Here is the garden with the aisles mowed, which I think looks quite nice.

And here it is just recently, in need of a good mowing:

So what does it look like when you're getting ready for a farmer's market?

Stacks of homemade tomato crates, refrigerator full of produce, vases of flowers, and other clutter everywhere. I do think if he ever did this on a larger scale we would need a big room devoted just to farming stuff!

Some of the totals from his garden this year: 25 lbs of strawberries, 250 lbs of tomatoes, 10 lbs and counting of raspberries.

My perennials

I was blessed with a few afternoons to work on my little perennial bed. It has been missing the presence of Fall perennials, which I didn't get much of last year, so I got to do a little shopping and planting. Gardening is so much easier now that our little one absolutely loves to "dig in dirt." She gets quite upset when we tear her away from this favorite hobby. Now is also the time to be getting more bulbs for Spring, but that will have to be on the backburner until new little baby girl arrives.

the garden right now, finally mostly filled in

last year's mum on the left, a new purple mum this year on the right

sedum- this wasn't even planted, just tossed in a pot, but it bloomed!

 

 

 

 

 

late summer garden before the new Fall perennials were added

filling this bucket with soil is a very serious mission

found the mud

I will just dig in this pot of basil right here

 

For now

The current garden fun is mostly just harvesting raspberries every couple days (right now a pint every couple days or so), waiting for the last peppers to ripen before frost, drying beans, and collecting the last few zucchini, cucumbers, and whatever else happens to be hiding in the weeds!