I enjoy Fall gardening far more than summer gardening.
“There are not as many vegetables,” my husband tells me. Correct statement, yet it does not change my opinion over preference. I enjoy the cool temperatures, magnificent blue skies, and no bugs.
I worked in the garden over two hours today and never broke a sweat! Ahhhhh, such joy! In summer, ugh! So much sweat and bugs.
The garden officially has been ‘put to bed’ for the season. All planted in winter rye that is coming up beautifully, covered with leaf mulch.
The garden has been ‘put to bed’ for the season.
However, I decided to plant onion and garlic. I am anxious to see how they turn out. I may even plant beets.
No sweat nor bugs with this planting of onion and garlic.The winter rye can barely be seen, but it is coming up beautifully.See it clearly now. The hoops are for covering the onions and garlic. Garden cloth will be added when frost arrives.
Other fall crops could be planted, but I’m going to pass on them this year, i.e., lettuce and leafy greens. Perhaps next season.
Russian Sage is happy.So i know which direction I’m facing! Garden decorations are in all the gardens.This pretty peach tree was grown from a seed by our son in Idaho. He brought it to us earlier this summer. Looks very happy, don’t you think?Busy summer garden. Fall garden is not so busy.
I am sure by the time Spring comes around I shall be all ready for the hot, lush, summer gardening.
How about you? Do you garden? What do you like grow?
Do you save flower seeds for next season? Several garden flowers and vegetables are easy to save their seeds.
Cosmos. These simple, fun flowers come up all over if given the chance.
Cosmos seeds are easy to save. They grow happily anywhere it seems. However, late in season mildew can be a problem on their leaves. Spray if you desire.
Leave a few flowers to dry on the stem.Look at all those seeds from part of the seed head!
Coreopsis are just as easy.
It is important to allow the seed head to completely dry on its stem.Seeds come right off when dried.Simply dropping seed back in flower bed.
Truly, I have success with sprinkling the seed simply back in the bed. They will winter over and produce next season. I also put some in a marked envelope, save for next season or share with friends.
Lettuce gone to seed.See the tiny lettuce seeds?
Allowing lettuce to go to seed will produce enough to share with others next season.
Note: Saving vegetable seeds works only with Heirloom plants. Hybrids are not dependable, only purebred seeds.
Dill is another easy one.Beautiful flower head of dill.Drying sunflower.
These big, full sunflowers heads dry on their stems. I will cut them, save some seed and leave the flower head in the garden for birds. It is fun watching the Goldfinches eat from them.
There is much joy in sharing too. Would you like some? Let me know. I would be happy to mail some for your garden!
A couple weeks ago we visited my flower gardens. May I now introduce you to the vegetable garden?
It is a small, little garden that suits us perfectly. It is all my husband & I need with some extra to share as well.
Bills dad was an amazing gardener. He grew much, and Polly, Bills mom, canned a goodly amount of food. His garden fed our family as well. He also grew enough for me to can tomatoes and beets. It was wonderful. I used to tell Grandad his garden should be featured in a Southern Living magazine. He taught me much.
I have noticed over these many years fewer and fewer vegetable gardens around our Valley homes. Three of our five children grow vegetables. They all are good gardeners. We have much to talk about around our growing seasons.
Sometimes I wonder if all the varieties of foods available in grocery store have spoiled our taste for the ordinary garden veggies? I have seriously been asked before how to cook fresh green beans.
Nothing, seriously nothing, from a grocery store tastes as good as homegrown. Don’t believe me? Plant a tomato, care for it, watch it grow and produce the best tasting tomatos you have ever eaten. It is likely you will never buy store-bought again.
Here is a neat thought: you grow tomatoes, ask your neighbor to container grow some green beans. Exchange your produce!
I grow lots of food for ‘free’. How? I plant potatoes that are sprouting in the pantry. I grow slips of sweet potatoes from those I have purchased at store. I let lettuce, dill, marigolds, and zinnias go to seed in the garden. They come up ‘volunteer’ next season. I save seeds from peas, beans, and limas.
Producing one’s own food is satisfying, great exercise, and gives one a good reason to talk to the neighbor! Working with the soil and nature–a beautiful art form.
Now, shall we take a stroll through my garden?
It is the perfect size for us.Wood chips between the beds are free or cost nominally. Contact your local tree guy.Volunteer dill from last year.Just watered beets. The best ever!Lettuce grown from last years gone to seed. Delicious!Peas from saved seeds last year.Soon to be a delicious tomato. This plant is a volunteer.Volunteer marigolds grow all around the garden.Sweet potato slips I started from the potato itself.Volunteer green bean. Beautiful purple flower!
Thank you for joining me. What is growing in your garden?
I have always thought of stress as a bad thing. Something we all should avoid. It seems that is what I have been told as long as I can remember. Stress can kill you.
Then the other day I had a paradigm shift. Talking with a friend about stress. She suggested that not all stress is bad. “There is good stress as well.”
“Really, how do you mean?” I inquired.
“Think about it.” she replied, “When you have done something that you know needs doing, don’t you feel better after you have done it?”
“You mean like brushing my dogs regularly?”
“Yes! That’s good stress, because it prompts you, and once you have taken care of the matter, you feel better.”
Hmmm…interesting…
So, I did think about it and put it to the test. I found she was quite right! These little examples may seem small, however, managing them made me feel much better!
These plants have been needing to be in the garden for awhile…Done! Now they will flourish and make me smile.This trimmer has been waiting to be put back in the tack room…That took about 45 seconds. Back where they belong.Hay strewn all over the barn—not good…A two minute sweep job does the trick and improves my mindset.A groomed dog always improvesmy attitude.
Handing me a small bag of sunflower seeds one morning last summer my neighbor informed me, “These are Mammoth Sunflower seeds.”
I have seen huge sunflowers at our county fair for years, and marveled at them, but have never cultivated any. I suppose because of the sweet, little volunteer ones that spring up all around our place from the bird feeders.
This will be funto see how big they get, I thought while planting.
I have to say, if a rating would be given on germination, I would have to give those seeds a poor one. Only a couple grew at all. Much less big to any impressive height. Perhaps I did something wrong?
At any rate one did grow, and grow and grow and grow. I felt as if I had a Jack-in-the-Beanstalk plant in the garden!
Several times I thought to cut it down and enter it into our fair. But I did not. I simply watch it grow. Literally, I could stand in its shade from the huge leaves.
I wish the photos gave a better ‘feel’ for its size.
Our jolly green giant.It’s huge leaves provided shade!We have lots of pretty little sunflowers all around from the bird feeder.They are bright and cheerful. This one is from a different place, I just like it!Isn’t the design and movement stunning?Pointing water sprayer straight up in the air was the only way to reach the flower.This is not near the ground where the stem was around 4″ in diameter!See the other ‘mammoth’ growing in the other bed?
It was cut down after the flower head passed its peak. My husband said the flower head was about 18″ in across, and the stalk was at least 4″ in diameter. It stood 12′ tall. He used a saw to cut it down.
What fun it was to plant and watch grow. Have you planted Mammoth sunflowers? How did yours turn out?
Life on the farm is unique. What compares? Share your thoughts. We grow our own food, raise a bunch of critters, have a bunch of fun, love the land. Outdoors is best. I’m bias? Yes, I am… May I ask you this—Do you love the land?
How about you? What’s your ‘jam’? Tell us, please! As my mother used to say, “It takes all kinds to make this world, Midy”.
She was right.
Pond reflections of windmill.Have you ever considered the life of a pond?Good day of fishing…he is the small one….Dinner from our pond.Nothing like line-dried clothes, yeah!Our broody hen, Fifi…setting on 7 fertile eggs.Evening-tide on the farm. Coveralls are essential items out here! I love this land. I love my farm…what do YOU love?
Do you have art in your gardens? I suppose that is the correct word—art. Perhaps statuary may be a better word. But that brings to mind lovely, thoughtful pieces of fountains, cherubs, beautiful women in flowing robes, or magnificent urns.
No, my “garden art” is more whimsical. Though I do have a couple stately pieces. Mostly animals, chickens, mushrooms, that sort of thing peek through the flowers and plants. Some have been gifts, others fun buys that add fun and conversation with visitors in our gardens.
Would you like to join me on a walk around the garden art?
This bunny cheerfully greets every visitor.A birthday gift! It looks huge in this photo, but is only 6-7″ tall.Do you have a gazing ball?Helps me know which direction I am heading!The only chicken allowed in the gardens.My happy, green gardening assistant!I am not keen on too many lights, this has a soft red glow though.A more stately piece, wouldn’t you say?No garden art is complete without urns somewhere!
Our prayers were answered as the kiosk outside our local nursery had posted: Pray for Rain.
We have had the most gentle, lovely rain fall for the past three days. It truly is heavenly, and an answer to prayer. Glory!
I heard we are 8″ short of rainfall. It has felt like a desert here where we live. But not anymore. It has rained. Flowers have opened up, the earth smells good, the horses hooves will soften. We gardeners and farmers are grateful.
I like Benjamin Franklins quote: “When the well is dry, we know the worth of water.”
Though our well did not go dry, our daughter & son-in-laws well went murky. They came to farm to give their well a rest.
All is well now because He waters the Earth. Amen.
That means busy times here on the farm and in the gardens, regardless of any virus. Plants have no opinion about it, and go about their business in full force of the season.
It is time to bring cut flowers from the gardens into the house for Sunday meals with family. Virus or not, we have our Sunday meals together. We believe in the rich value of family, fresh air, and community immunity. Fresh air is magical.
There is little time to be on computer, as the outdoors is quite demanding this time of year. Spare moments for this primary farm operator are spent trying to catch the beautiful Barn Swallows on film out in the barn. Apparently they are camera shy, for every time I am out at the barn without my camera they are everywhere working on their homes in the barn. When camera is in hand, there is not one to be seen anywhere. I’ll catch them yet!
So in the meantime, here are a few photos of flowers in the vase on the dining room table. The floral arrangement in the second set of photos are not from the garden. I did not like the usual vase they were delivered in, so I put them in the ceramic one after the beautiful lilacs expired. The iris are blooming, I believe they will be next!
Thank you for stopping by. Hope these photos inspire the hope and joy of this Spring season in you.
Hope springs eternal. Blessings to you all.
Is there anything that smells sweeter than a lilac?They are easy to grow as well. Which color is your favorite?Sunday family meals are important.I did not like the usual flower-shop vase these flowers came in.This ceramic vase is lovely.The iris are blooming.They will be the next to fill the vase.
