Windfall Apples

Today we had a big wind storm.  The result was four big beautiful North Pole apples.  There are still quite a few hanging on for dear life.

Pizza Night

San Marzano tomatoes, Portofino squash, and mozzarella.

Wildlife Encounters

We continue to have minor battles with neighborhood wildlife.  A few days ago I caught a squirrel with a strawberry, and yesterday spotted a squirrel on the fence eating a large beet leaf.  He sat there and consumed the whole thing.  Mostly they don't do much harm.

But last night we had a visit from a skunk (I know because I woke up and smelled it).  He dug up the entire area that I had just planted with mizuna.  Nothing had sprouted yet.  I hope a few plants come up, because I'm out of seeds so I can't replant it.

Overwintering Carrots

So I lied.  I still have a few things to plant.  Today I pulled out the remaining leeks (which should have been harvested ages ago) and sowed five short rows of an overwintering carrot called 'Merida.'  They should be ready some time next spring or early summer.  Update:  A flop

When I pulled out the leeks I found three little plants, so I put them in the ground.  Maybe they'll grow.  Update:  They didn't do much.

The early planting of salad greens is getting pretty big.  I'm a little worried that the lettuce may bolt before we can eat it all.

The next planting is coming along nicely.  Timing is everything.

The sweet potatoes are taking over their corner of the garden.  I'm supposed to wait until cold weather, but I may have to sneak a peek before then.

First Broccoli

Thanks to the big storm we had yesterday, I found our first stalk of broccoli.  The bed had been covered with Remay, but the wind was so strong that I decided to remove it before it got shredded.  Today I went out to see what things looked like and there was a nice big stalk of broccoli.  I also I found two green caterpillars in it.  Sigh.  I think I'll just give up on the cover and patrol every day for insects.

I also found four nice yellow squash and two green ones.  The yellow ones are really pumping them out.  The variety is 'Cube of Butter.'  I think next year I'll just grow that one and maybe a pattypan. 

Pea Harvest

Today I picked the first snap pea.  Singular.  I guess I should have planted more.  I put in just six plants because I wasn't sure how they would do.  Obviously, they do fine.  I'm hoping we'll get enough for a meal at some point.

I picked a bunch of peppers, most of them red.  No need to plant 'Red Bell' because they all turn red, some before 'Red Bell.'

Pizza Night

Tonight's pizza was yellow squash, red pepper, Greek olives and feta cheese.

Spider Time

One of my favorite things about fall is watching the activities of the garden spiders.  They build a new web each day.

The only thing I don't like is walking into them when they've been strung across a path.

Out With the Beans, In With the Greens

I pulled out the remnants of the pole beans.  I managed to find two meals worth.  As you can tell by the sky, I finished just in time to beat the thunderstorm.

Next (after the storm had passed through) I sowed three rows of mizuna in that bed and three rows of mache in the melon bed.

That should be the end of fall planting.

UPDATE:  The timing of the mache planting was excellent.  We had salads with it right through January.  Next year I need to plant more, because they're pretty puny.

Last Gasp of Summer

Today was 78 and beautifully sunny, but it's all about to come to an end.  We're starting into a week of cooler temperatures and rain.  This may be the beginning of the end.

There are still lots of flowers.

The vegetables and fruit keep coming.  I guess they have no idea what's around the corner.  Ignorance is bliss.

Br-r-r

Things are definitely changing.  This morning it was 48 degrees when we went for our morning walk around 7:00.

We tried the last two melons this morning.  They were pretty tasteless.  I guess they miss the sun and warm temperatures.

Fall Blackberry

Today we picked our first Prime-Ark 45 blackberry.  It was very good, not too seedy.  It's a primocane blackberry, which means that it bears on canes that grew in the spring, unlike other blackberries that bear on year-old canes in early summer.  It's like the fall-bearing raspberries.  It's going to be nice to have fresh blackberries this time of year, along with raspberries.

If it Isn't One Thing It's Another

I've covered all my broccoli plants to keep out the white butterflies, and I've been monitoring them just in case.  However the latest threat is from below.  One of our little subterranean rascals (Mole? Vole?) has chewed the roots off several plants.  I couldn't figure out why they kept wilting, even though I gave them extra water.  Now I know.

The last two melons have been harvested, thank goodness.  They've been very good and we've really enjoyed them.  But enough is enough.  Surely it must be almost grapefruit season.

This morning we walked in Minto Brown Park.  It's starting to feel more and more like fall, although most of the trees still have all their leaves.  I found a mushroom that I can't identify, as well as a wildflower I can't identify.

More Lettuce

In my attempts to get the lettuce planting timed just right, I've planted two more rows in the melon bed (two melons remain).  One row is Arctic Tundra Mix, with Red Sails added, and the other is Provencal Winter Blend.  It has some extra stuff in it besides just lettuce.

The bed of spinach, mizuna, chard and kale is doing well.  It's in the old potato bed (sigh!).

New Plants!

Today was the Salem Hardy Plant Society's fall plant sale, and even though I don't have a lot of space, I managed to get a few things I couldn't live without.  The neatest one is this one.  I was told it's a Crassula, but which one is a mystery.  I haven't been able to find anything on it.

My Cyclamen hederafolium are blooming.  They were here when we moved in, and I have really enjoyed them.  Sometimes they are all leaves with beautiful patterns on them.  Other times they look like nut shells, from which funny springs emerge.  Right now they are flowering.  The leaves are from a lithodora that they're growing through. 

Oregon Natives

Here are two of my favorite Oregon natives, with berries, in the back yard.


Symphoricarpas albas (Snowberry)

This is Lonicera involucrata (Twinberry)

Pizza Night

Tonight's pizza just lots of summer vegetables.  There was squash, tomatoes, peppers, and basil. No sauce, just mozzarella and Parmesan.  Probably our last pizza on the deck for the season.

Ratatouille

Guess what we're having for dinner!

Basil

It may not look much different, but it is much better.  Now I can actually walk (well, wiggle) into the aisle between the tomatoes and the sweet potatoes.

End of the Melons

The melons are finally winding down, thank goodness.  We've gotten pretty tired of them.  There are still three in the refrigerator, and six in the bed.  I've given them away to everyone I know, including the FedEx guy.  But now I've cleaned out most of the vines, leaving only the few that have an unripe melon.

I plan to sow lots of lettuce for winter salads.

Now for my next project.  I'm going to pull out all the basil on this side of the tomato bed. It grew beautifully, but with the sweet potatoes and squash in the bed beside it, The path is impossible to get through.  I think I'll make lots of pesto to freeze.

Pizza Night

The aubergines are nearly finished, so I decided to make an aubergine and cherry tomato pizza.  I broiled the aubergines with a little olive oil, then added halved cherry tomatoes and garlic and broiled it all some more.  The result was yummy.

Green Monster Tamed

Yesterday afternoon we had a serious thunderstorm.  By the end of it the green monster had met its match.  The top part flopped down and is now blocking one of the paths.  Maybe it's time to take it all down. It was fun trying the bamboo tepee, but it really didn't work all that well.  The beans overpowered it.  Next year it's back to the netting.

Moving On

I guess it's like falling off a horse and getting back on.  Today I planted the old potato bed with a double row of spinach, a row of kale, a row of chard, and a row of tatsoi.  If my timing is right, we'll have lots of greens all winter.  I feel better already.

Green Monster

The green beans are taking over the world.  Even though I've cut this thing back, it still looks like a monster, lurching toward the house.

Update:

It has occurred to me that this photo does not really show how tall the monster is.  Here's a better  one.

Requiem for a Potato Bed

Today I went out and dug out all my potatoes.  I'm so depressed.  It was without a doubt the best crop I've ever had.  It was heartbreaking digging out so many beautiful potatoes and dumping them in the green waste bin.  A couple of times I cut one, thinking maybe I'd find a good one, but no.  This is what they all looked like, some even worse.

I got four and a half buckets full, totaling 150 pounds.  I know, because I weighed one.

Well, now I know the secret of getting a big potato crop.  Actually two secrets, from Eliot Coleman and Barbara Damrosch.  Dig a trench as usual, but plant the potatoes even deeper using a bulb planter.  And give them lots of water.  Someday I may try them again, but not in this garden. 

Update:  After turning the problem over to Neil to research, I've learned that the problem is lack of calcium.  Maybe this one variety (German Butterball) needs more.  So I will try again.

Good News and Bad News

First the bad news.  Today I decided it was time to dig a few potatoes for dinner.  They looked great, and there were a lot of them in the two plants we chose to dig up.  However, when I cut them to cook them, they had nasty brown spots all over inside.  There wasn't a single one that was usable.  I went back out to check on some other plants, hoping it was just at one end of the bed.  Unfortunately, all the potatoes are like that.  I did a little research and learned that it is most likely a virus carried by nematodes.  There is nothing I can do about it.  So, I guess my potato-growing days are over.

Now the good news.  I have a whole bed to plant more winter vegetables!  And next year, I have another bed to plant.  I'm already thinking about what I can put in there.  It looks like other crops won't be bothered by the virus.

Fall Grasses

I love grasses in the fall and winter.  I'm always stunned to see people cutting them to the ground in winter, when that is when they are the most beautiful.

This is Bouteloua gracilis 'Blonde Ambition.'  It always reminds me of a school of tiny fish, all swimming in different directions.

And the Calamagrostis 'Karl Foerster' is so gorgeous and tall.

This is the variegated Calamagrostis 'Avalanche.'  

More Greens

Yesterday I tucked a couple of short rows of tatsoi and spinach seeds in the old carrot bed.  Little by little I'm getting the big carrots out.  They are huge, but still taste good.  Carrot soup?

Picture Perfect and Tasteless

I picked two of the Red October tomatoes.  They are supposed to keep on the vine as well as after they are picked. Just like the one I picked a while back, they are very firm and pretty tasteless.  They did work nicely in my squash and white bean saute.

Canna 'Phasion'

I thought this was 'Tropicana' but I was mistaken.  It's finally blooming, and it's a beautiful orange.  It's in a pot on the deck, but I plan to plant it in the front yard.

Golden Sentinel Apples

I've picked the last of the Golden Sentinel apples.  They are pretty good.