A clever weekly state of the garden memo is current on what is scheduled to be grown, what’s been planted and its progress, what is close to prime time and eventually…what will be in short supply.
Autumn is upon us. The mornings are cool, we’ve broken out the jackets, and the blackberry lilies (Iris domestica) are finally showing their seed arrangement. These plants are scattered throughout various flowerbeds because we love the flowers, followed by the interesting seed heads.
A sure sign that fall is around the corner is that the winter squashes are looking almost ready. They are called winter squashes not because they grow in the winter, which is a common mis-conception, but rather because they have a hard outer shell which allows them a longer shelf life so we can use them in the winter.
Mornings in the Garden in September are always interesting. We heard the first flock of Canadian geese since last spring when they headed north. It’s a time of transition. The Garden continues to produce abundantly.
We have sunflowers scattered randomly throughout the garden to provide late-season food for honey bees, bumble bees, and the many tiny native bees.
The garden and the gardeners have been enjoying the cooler weather. The dahlias, in particular, are much happier if it is not blistering hot.
Everything we harvest this month is in abundance. A good example is blueberries. The bushes are loaded, so purchasing from outside vendors is unnecessary for a few weeks. We should have blueberries for a couple more weeks unless the temperatures soar to 100 degrees again.
The garden is full of life this time of year. The sunflowers alone are host to dozens of different pollinator species. The kitchen is soon to be the scene of massive harvests of everything.
This is one day’s worth of zucchini and patty pan squash. Consider this fair warning that the amount will only increase for several weeks. It might be prudent to lock your car doors as that is a favorite “hiding” place for extra zucchini, usually the boat-size zucchini.
The Garden is teetering on the brink of a plentiful harvest. The heavily laden Gypsy peppers in the photo will soon be ready for harvesting. They are the best bell-type peppers in our area, reliable and abundant producers.
The garden is looking like summer. We harvested the elephant garlic in the foreground of the photo.