Many of you have been asking when I am going to get around to another post about the garden here at home. Well, things have slowed down as far as the garden goes. August and September are our hottest months of the year here in San Diego, so, the growing season dries up, quite literally. All of the late summer crops came in and fall... well, they kind of dried up on the vines! I think we got about two pumpkins this year due to where we planted and both were gifted to kids for Halloween here in the neighborhood. The peppers and eggplant survived and are still putting out blossoms and fruits but considerably smaller than the summer crop.
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| sun dried tomatoes? |
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| dried up leeks |
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| eggplant |
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| lipstick and Anaheim peppers |
That much being said, the insects are still active and feasting on whatever they can find, save the last few leeks that I got out tonight.
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| grasshopper |
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| hornworm |
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| last of the leeks |
I've been busy as a lot of you know, not so much in the garden but baking a lot. My newest craze at home is sourdough. That and canning up fruits and veggies to bring us through the winter. We were fortunate to have been gifted a LOT of fruit this summer and fall and have made quite a larder on jams and jellies; everything from tomatillo salsa and tomato sauce to guava jam and kumquat marmalade, just to name a few. Apple butter, pear butter, fig jam, grape, peach, mulberry, plum, zinfandel grape, pomegranate, tomato jam, chutneys and sauces galore. You name it we probably have it!
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| this is just what we kept, we have given at least half away as gifts |
Finally today though, with a bonus day off after attending a retreat in Simi Valley this weekend for some much needed R and R, I got busy again on the winter crops. I find that getting a little help with the brassicas and greens by purchasing greenhouse grown starts really helps in this climate. So, a trip to Walter Andersen Nursery for a few crops and $126 later, with a couple of dwarf fruit trees I couldn't resist for the front yard, I got started turning the soil, spreading some compost, worm castings and bat guano, and putting in some plants and seed.
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| Australian finger lime |
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| dwarf nagami kumquat |
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| kale, collards, cauliflower, broccoli, spinach and cabbage |
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| cuttings from the tomatoes to root for next season |
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| softening up the soil |
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| broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower |
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| a bunch of varieties of winter squash |
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| the veggie bed; carrots, beets, parsinps, turnips and onions... along with the rest in back |
A good start with the day off! I'll keep you all posted how it goes through the winter. Now to get the dirt washed off my paws!
