Garden Friday

It's Garden Friday once again.

The weather has been summer-like and we even got a dose of much needed rain this week!

Here's what's going on in the garden in this second week of October.

The peppers are turning red,

so I will harvest them and make red pepper flakes.

I'll be using this method.

I don't use a lot of peppers,

but red pepper flakes are used in my homemade gravy 

and other dishes to give them a little kick.

 

The Brussels Sprouts are doing well.

This looks so much like broccoli at this stage

that it could easily be mistaken for it.

I'm hoping the cooler weather coming next week

will give this a boost.

 

The broccoli really seemed to enjoy the rain.

I had fertilized all the pots on this side of the garden last week,

and it seems they appreciated it.

 

Another 6-pack of broccoli is doing well (5/6 germinated)

and will be transplanted into pots in a few weeks.

 

The Vates kale continues to thrive.

I'm letting it get a bit bigger before I start harvesting.

The dino kale hasn't fared so well.

It will be reseeded once again over the weekend,

along with some of the crops in the straw bale garden that never came up.

 

The leeks are nestled in for the duration of the season.

These take upwards of 9 months to reach full size,

but they are well worth the wait.

 

The straw bale garden has a lot of kale germinating,

as well as some sugar snap peas.

A couple of the bales show no growth,

and I think that the seeds may have been displaced

because I had to water using a watering can.

I've rectified the situation by lengthening the watering hose,

so that now I can give each bale a gentle shower with the wand.

I'll be reseeding anything that hasn't yet come up.

I'm thinking I might want to add lettuce seeds to the sides of the bales,

just to see if it'll grow there.

My order of shallets from Sow True Seed

should be here anyday now.

Those will be going in ASAP.

I'm also planning on buying some organic garlic

from the grocery store tomorrow and planting that.

It's the perfect time for sowing all those crops

that add so much flavor to our dishes.

 

We still have ample color in the garden.

The butterflies and other pollinators are out in droves.

 

This bush is always covered with bees.

It's going to be relocated to another part of the garden in the spring,

as it is too tall for the front of the house.

Placing it closer to the veggie garden would ensure lots of helpful activity.

 Who doesn't love a Gerbera daisy?

They are so cheerful.

The color screams autumn, but the memory of summer still lingers.

Yes, the bees are still busy here in mid-October.

We appreciate all they do

and hope to incorporate more food sources for them in the near future.

What a blessing Mother Nature is.