Long Weekend Day 3

Sunday 2nd November

What, you may ask, happened to Day 2? Here's the abridged version of events....................

Last week one of my cats, Alvin, got sick through either being bitten by an infected animal/insect or eating something he shouldn't have and becomes quite ill. My wife took him to the vet.
Whilst there Alvin bites my wife's arm so she has to go get a tetanus shot and antibiotics.
She then has an allergic reaction to the antibiotics and has to return to the doctor.
So, with trips to the surgery and the vets and nursing a sick wife and cat, the garden took a back seat.
Both patients seem to be slowly on the mend but it's going to take a while.

So here we are at Day 3 and the news doesn't get any better...............................

....caterpillars (cabbage loopers) have got into all the cabbages and had a real feast. They have bored right into bases of the newly forming heads.....

....rendering them unfit to eat. It's heartbreaking to see these veggies which I've grown from seed get ruined this way. There's nothing else to do....................

.....but pull the lot.

How long the Cauliflower and Kohlrabi will last I don't know.
I then clear out the remains of the tomato and basil from Plot 6......

......then weed and thoroughly dig it over.
I'm going to leave it like this for a few days then dig it over again before mulching it for the winter.

Long Weekend. Day 1

Friday 31st October

I'm on a long weekend so hope get some at least some of the garden "winterising" done.
I start on Plot 3 and pull the Yolo Pepper plants.

I then dug the plot over thoroughly and added Iron Phosphate.
I then did the same......................

....to Plot 4
I moved the sapling trees................

.....out of the box and placed 3 of each.........

....in either side.........

....of the walkway between the plots. This will be their home for the winter.
The last of the tomatoes are......................

......sunning themselves on the kitchen windowsill.

Enough for today!!

Frost!

Monday 27th October

What a difference a day makes. A heavy frost during Sunday night/Monday morning finished off quite a few of the plants in the garden as shown below.
The volunteer tomato plants in Plot 4 are............

.........now history. So is................

....the volunteer potato in Plot 5.
The Yolo Pepper plants super productive run..............

.....is brought to a sudden end.
Some of the Spicey Globe Basil which is growing up against the house...............

.........has survived.................

.........and has usable patches of fresh greenery.......

......remaining.
The African Blue Basil has not been so lucky.

It's gone!

So this weekend I can start getting a few things winterised.

Cooler

Sunday 26th October

An early morning call from Alvin has me rising at 7-30am.

It's a cool start to the day.................

........but forecast to warm up later. Having said that, I think the balmy days of Summer are well behind us, BBQing will probably be over for this year.
I straighten up the sagging woodpile...................

.......and bring a little into the garage just in case.
This is Oklahoma, "Expect the Unexpected". You can be wearing shorts and sleeveless shirt in the morning, jeans and woolly sweater in the afternoon.
In Plot 1 the first few of the new Winter Onion bulbs I planted a couple of weeks ago.........

... ..are peeping through the straw mulch. Most of those I planted seem to be coming up.
Plot 2 and the Brussel Sprout plants...............

......seem to be enjoying this cooler spell.
Grasshopper damage.............

.......is a nuisance but the colder weather should see these pests off soon.
Plot 3 Yolo Bell Peppers are still growing but are reducing in size.
The size of the main plant stem.....................

......is quite impressive. These were as thin as matchsticks when I first planted them, I was afraid the breezes would snap them in two.
Plot 5 has also had Grasshopper activity but things still seem to be growing well.

The Swiss Chard has more than made up for the amount I harvested the other week. These plants look really healthy and have surprisingly little insect damage.

This cabbage has the start of a head forming.
It seems I failed to get all the potatoes out of here when I dug this plot over.
Here's one that got away and is making a comeback. It's not in the way so I'll leave it to it's own devices and see what happens.
Plot 6. My once tidy, erect and nicely pruned Tomato plants are now a tangled mess. It really looks untidy but I still keep picking the occasional fruit.

The African Blue Basil companion plants are covered with Honey Bees so everything is staying in place, no matter how it looks. The welfare of these tiny, busy little insects is far more important to me than a tidy looking plot.
The basil from the vase on the dining room table is still growing at the front of the house.

This too is a popular Honey Bee stopping off point.
Some of our trees have already lost their leaves.............

.......strong winds helping them on their way.
The Persimmons may be lacking in foliage..........................

............but not in fruit.

These will sustain many wild birds through the winter. I gather up some which fall and put them in with the compost. But I always ensure that the majority is left for those who need it more.
The hedgerow at the back of our property..............

.......is now starting to take on a browner and thinner look.
Our flag reveals....................

....that the wind is now blowing from the North. A sign of colder weather to come, perhaps?
Maybe I should order more firewood.