Salads Aplenty

When we grow lettuces in the summer here, they bolt.  So for us, the salad season begins in fall.  Little by little we're removing the summer crops and are replacing them with the things that like the cooler temperatures.

Mesclan mix.

Peas are beginning to flower

Kohl Rabi and Kale

Carrots

Golden Beets

The Early Girl that gave us a handful of tomatoes has found her happy place.

We switched from the shade screen to the plastic.  Our temps dropped big
for a few weeks then came back up, so we left the ends unsecured so
we can open them during the day.

Peppers perked up as it got cooler.

Older carrots with a "we didn't plant that there" leek.

Pak choi and bok choi

Out in the front yard we have lettuces and Swiss Chard

Spinach was recently added where the eggplants were.

More lettuces in the scallops.

Getting Ready for Fall

We're beginning the transformation to the winter garden.  Usually it's hard to even think about it, but the monsoon has been in overdrive this year and it's been cool and cloudy for weeks here.  We might make it back into the hundreds next week, but really I don't think the weather people really know.  Anything except sunny seems to be really taxing for them.

The peppers have finally begun producing, so we're keeping them around a little longer.  We still have rotations of beets and carrots growing.  We have a spot cleared and just need to throw down some more carrot seed for the next batch.  We did much better rotating those this year.  We need to remember to toss in a few radishes a little more often, but they bolt a little faster so a whole section wouldn't be worth it.

We pulled some of the squashes.  They were losing the battle with the squash bugs and the aphids.  Time to look for more lacewings.  We also pulled the heatwave tomatoes, which didn't seem to like the heat waves we've had.  In fact, the only tomatoes that have done really well in our yard are the ones we didn't even plant.  We had a few pop up in the front which have been giving us little pear shaped tomatoes.

We're working on a new area for more onions and for garlic.  We need to finish the digging in the path for the cob oven before we can load in some more topsoil, though.  Hubby's working on that one.  He stayed outside in the drizzling rain we had yesterday to dig up some more clay and mix it with sand for the outer layer.

Our biggest pest this week are the ants.  We spread some lettuce seed, but noticed little ants carrying it away.  Looks like someone is getting ready for winter by hijacking our winter food.  Unfortunately, unlike the worms, we can't feed the ants to the chickens.

They would be too little to rip in half.

It's MINE!!!!

Still Here

Hi there.  No, we didn't give up on the garden.  Hubby's been working excessively long hours at his paying job, and I've just been lazy.

The tomatoes were disappointing, can't help thinking we went a little too heavy when we were putting the starts in the ground.  We just had so many that it was hard to toss any.  I should have trimmed the ones we kept through the summer, but I've waited too late.  They already have blossoms and growing tomatoes on them.  They also have overgrown the planter by our bedroom, so now I'm just trying to keep the tomatoes off of the ground.

We ripped out one planter of tomatoes and have started some cauliflower and fennel.  We also started more lettuces, since the first batch was overrun by snails.  For Hubby's birthday we got some microscopic bugs that are supposed to eat the bad bugs from the inside out.  Unfortunately, they don't seem to be winning against the aphids, which are attacking the Chinese cabbage.

Cauliflower.

Romaine.

When aphids attack.

Our other pest.  This beetle really likes the tomatillo plant.

 The pepper plants have been the happiest.  Lots and lots of peppers, anaheim, sweet bells, and jalapenos.

And the random watermelon.  I didn't see it hiding there until last week.

One of the things I love about our backyard garden???  My 3 year old daughter can look at this...

...and know that there are carrots under there.

I thought it might have been a fluke of knowing where we have planted them, but she pointed out the other ones in a different bed and asked if she could have a carrot.  

Some of the cucumbers are still producing.

A few of the first batch of fennel survived the snail attack.

Pomegranates.

This morning's harvest.  I'm sure there will be more eggs, since Susie was in the box
and I've heard some squawking since...

 And speaking of chickens...   The girls have been good.  They're taking the shorter days in stride.  A few have been molting, which I'm glad for.  The ones that were missing neck feathers are growing them back in.  I think the two older groups are both going through some sort of molt, since I've seen some that are definitely Salt and Peppers feathers.  The eggs have slowed down, but we still get 7 or 8 a day.  They love to eat the Hornworms I find eating the tomato leaves from time to time.  And I'm more than happy to feed the little buggers to them.

Thank heavens Red is getting her neck feathers back.

We're finishing up the peppers.  We've got a few we're trying to keep warm to let them finish.  But most of them have either been pulled or trimmed back.  The lettuces are on a rampage.  They are at several stages, and we have begun a lovely habit of salad at dinner.  Salad that comes from our yard.  LOVE IT!!  The carrots are getting to a pickable size.  YAY!  

The chickens have obliged us by going back to laying 3-4 eggs a day since we added the lamp to the coop.  We let them out around 7am and since the sun's going down before 5pm, we turn on a lamp until 7pm.  When the daylight hours dropped, so did egg production to 2, maybe 3 eggs a day.  That almost made us have to buy eggs, something we haven't had to do since the end of September.  So we gave the birds a lamp.  Now they have some time after the sun goes down to eat and drink before heading to the roost.  And it has helped.  The last few days have been 3 or 4 eggs every day.   Yummy for us!

I took this a few days ago, and found them exactly like this tonight.  Ha!

We had a few carrots pop up near the cabbage.

Field of lettuce. 

Iceburg Lettuce.

These birds love it when my hubby thins the lettuce out.

Hi there!

I noticed a bug on my arm as I was checking in on Sunflower as she was
laying, so out came the powder so everyone could get dusted. 

My question is, what are these things?  Mites or Lice?

I got your back.

They always get the itchy's when i dust them.

Those late grapes are still trying.  The warm week should help, but will it be enough???

Grape leaves are turning.

We still have a ladybug or two hanging around.