Heaven on Earth

Heaven on Earth

Monday, October 18, 2010

Garden Clean-up

I started to clean up the city garden today.  We have a large house on a relatively small lot; less than a quarter acre.  Although our garden is small, it provides our family with quite a lot of produce.


Today I pulled the winter squash vines, the bean bushes, the cherry tomato plant, and the eggplants.  Into the compost pile they went (except for the tomato plants), but not without first giving of their bounty.  I left some of the tomato plants in the garden.  They are almost ripe and if we have another week without a freeze I should be able to harvest them too.
There are a few flowers still blooming; my pink rose varieties in particular, but most are setting hips.
The neighborhood squirrel is starting to store his walnuts in each of our fence lattices.  He does this every year; just lines them up inside the fence for winter; much like I store the produce from the garden in my pantry.

Our 29 resident quail are still here. They live in the raspberry patch.  Erin and I thinned the raspberries today so we'll see how long they stay.
I complain about the holes that they make with their wings in the soil around my plants, but I must say that they keep the bug population down.  I haven't seen a snail or slug for a few years now.
We should be good for squash storage, don't you think?  There are Delicata, Sweet Meat, Jarrahdale, Cinderella, Butternut, Golden Nugget, Buckskin, and a round yellow pumpkin that I don't remember the name of.  And my lovely husband brought me back a few beautiful red maple branches from his morning hike.  He knows how much I love the fall leaves.   
Here's what my kitchen counters look like this afternoon.  They are covered with what I picked last saturday and today.  I have baby striped eggplants, tomatillos, beans (green and purple), a 2 lonely cucumbers, and tomatoes galore.  I'd best quit blogging and get busy.


This is linked to Fresh and Clean Friday, and Friday Potluck.

17 comments:

  1. i love it! will you can and pickle everything? beautiful squash.

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  2. WOW! You are a master gardener! Love hearing about the critters:)

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  3. Christy,

    I freeze some, can some, and pickle some. Sadly, it depends on my jar and freezer availablity at the time. I am making more tomatillo salsa right now.

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  4. Wow our garden has been cleaned out for a couple of weeks now. I had a couple of eggplants that went out to the chickens because I just never got around to do anything with them. I do not feel bad though because those chickens ate them right up. Nothing goes to waste around here anymore since the arrival of the chickens.

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  5. You thinned the quail? How'd that work out? HA! I'm kidding. Sorry. LOL!! Seriously, I'm in awe...such fabulous bounty! That's so incredible :D

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  6. Thanks Heather. I corrected the wording. I actually thinned the raspberries. I thought about thinning the quail. We'll see how many we have in the spring. I might have to relocate a few to the wild. We're being over run.

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  7. I'm so impressed with your energy. By this time of year I'm so tired of the garden I've given up trying to keep up with it all.

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  8. Bonnie, your harvest was really great. I loved looking at all your produce from your garden. Beautiful pics. Joni

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  9. Great gardening. Your house is beautiful. I have enjoyed what a have seen so far in this blog.

    Have a great afternoon, :D
    Mari

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  10. oh wow, i wish i had your green thumb!
    we want to plant pumpkins in our yard for next year (hopefully we'll still live in our home) when is the best time to plant them and what is the best kind?

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  11. Hi Kassi,

    When you plant depends on your zone. I have a zone 5 climate. Just plant them as early as you can as soon as your last predicted frost date. I plant in late April or early May. Plant from seed and Fertilize, fertilize, fertilize.

    I love the big red-orange cinderella pumpkins. They are also good to eat. And I love the big green blue Sweet Meats in the photo. Good luck. I hope that you get to plant and harvest some next year.

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  12. i love it...you have a green thumb! love the different kinds of pumpkins! :) happy sunday!

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  13. Sure wish we had our garden yet. But hubby was not be able to till the ground with his back and we had to give it up. All we gtow now are volunteer qourds on oue scrap pile. Maybe next year some pumpkins might "just appear".

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  14. What a great bounty! I'm super jealous of your garden, and hope to at least get cilantro or basil planted next year, though one day I strive for amazing veggies! :) Thanks for linking up to Friday Potluck!

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  15. You're so fortunate to have all of that deliciousness growing in your gardens. They're a feast for the eyes as well as for the palate. By the way, that purple and white flower (whatever it's called) is absolutely stunning.

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  16. Your place is a breath of fresh air. Thank you for sharing it with us. I am just glad I found your garden.

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  17. I could only dream of a home and garden like yours. Visiting your sight virtually realizes it. This indeed is a breath of fresh air.

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