Up for Fall

The kids helped clean out the garden last week. They pulled up the now scrawny tomato plants,



and the sunflowers.



The boys hunted sunflower seeds in the large heads...



And then dismantled the stalks and did what any BOYs would do with them.







After the duel was over they followed their dad, who ripped up the soil with his little rototiller, picking up weeds and throwing them over the fence.

We're ready for fall!

Bounty

Guess what we have been making?

Aren't those jalapenos beautiful! We have one plant that is positively prolific. We pick pounds of peppers from our prolificly producing plant. Peter Piper probably would puff up with pride if he could pick from our prolific plant. Ha!



We grew so many Roma tomatoes this year. They have been wonderful for salsa. Jon slaved away over the stove and the smell was wonderful. He has somehow contented himself with using that little food processor that I use for making baby food. I told him that we probably need to upgrade to a full size.

I could make a wonderful marinara, but the inspiration hasn't hit yet. And in order to peel enough tomatoes for thee cups (Romas, mind you) you have to be inspired. In the meantime, I'll enjoy a tomato sandwich or just grab a chip and taste test to see if we need more jalapenos and red onions.

Dig It!

My hubby likes to garden/landscape. He makes things look beautiful. Here is an example of a job half done. It gives a great idea of what things look like before Jon gets ahold of them and then after.





He helped out a friend who lives on the campus the other day with mulch. They needed some for a play area under a tree and the tree service had just come through and left behind piles and piles of wood chips throughout the woods that run along the road that winds into the back part of the campus. (big breath) So...Jon ran up to the facility building and grabbed a toy. Wow! How we wish we had one of these at our house--well, maybe a mini version.

Popcorn had a fun ride with his daddy.

This year, Jon has really outdone himself. He has redone the entire front and back walks of the house in addition to planting a garden. He has transplanted, spread mulch, planted bushes, uprooted bushes, built stone walls, and in general, has thrown dirt around all day long (and often into the night--even with a flashlight) until everything is green and beautiful. He comes in filthy every night, but happy. He loves the work. I think he would do well in landscaping if he wanted a different career.


Sinatra adores anything on wheels, but goes nuts over big things on wheels. He loved the front loader.

Ding! Ding! Ding! We Kind Of Have A Winner!!!

The only two things growing in the compost heap are tomatoes and cucumber. I picked this alien off the cucumber vine. It looks exactly like an unripe melon (or maybe a sad imitation of a tomato) but when you slice through its tough skin it smells like a cucumber. I'm sad, however, to report that it is almost tasteless with just a hint of cucumber. Back to the compost heap it goes!

Congratulations to Anonymous!!! (probably Jeff) You correctly guessed the cucumber part.

So the mystery is . . . cucmelon or cucomato?

I'm leaning toward cucomato.

The Line-Up

Another Hint

Keep the guesses coming.

What is it?

Three cheers to anyone who can tell me what this is. Anyone have a guess? Hint: it grew out of the dormant bin of my compost pile along with other plants that sprouted though I didn't plant them.

Gorgeous Garden

Our yellow sunflowers are lending a dash of contrast to the mass of green in our little garden. And now the tomatoes are dotting the landscape too.




Our watermelon has just started to grow and could easily fit in the palm of my hand.


Our giant pumpkin, however, is already this big.

Our Little Garden

We have a small plot in our back yard for a garden. This year the cast of characters includes green beans, cilantro, sunflowers, 7 tomato plants, two watermelon plants and one plant that will produce prize winning pumpkins--I'm talking the ones that have to have a front loader to lift them.


We're trying to grow the tomato plants on a trellis instead of cages. It's working nicely so far, but we'll see how they do when the tomatoes come in.

Check out the bees inside the pumpkin flower.



And this is a very hopeful sight.