Less heat, more rain.

Sunday 14th September

Rising at 8-00am to....................

Skies of beauty and wonder...............................

....and a sunny but refreshingly cooler day.
Oklahomegrownvegland received heavy rain all day yesterday and most of the night too so the Happy Gardener had to resort to inside work such as.....................

.....tomato seed collecting/cleaning/soaking/drying/labeling/storing. And admiring the seedlings growing indoors......

.....such as the Catnip shown here.
But today, outside work is possible, though the soil is very heavy due to the rain.
Plot 5 gets dug over and hoed level. This plot has been covered over since last weekend so the soil is comparatively dry. I then plant my first 6 plants of the fall.
e
(L to R) Cauliflower, Kohlrabi, Cabbage. I then replaced the plastic cover but left the ends open. When I took the cover off this morning to work the soil it was pretty hot and muggy under there. Hopefully, leaving the ends open will allow the air to circulate. The plot was then sprinkled liberally with Iron Phosphate to deter my friends "The Woodlice" from taking over.
I then dug over Plot 2

This plot had not been covered and the soil was far too heavy to work so it received a light turning over and weeding. It was also clogged with roots, really thin and straggley ones which I presume are coming from the trees and creepers which grow on the border of the property. I need to dig this more next weekend if the soil gets to dry out a little.
The volunteer Tomato plants in Plot 4 are doing well. I'm going to have to decide on what sort of support I'm going to give them soon......

....before the fruits start weighing them down. My aim is to keep these plants short and bushy so perhaps stakes will suffice.
Here's a small reminder that messy times are approaching...........................

....and these few leaves will soon be followed by a whole lot more. I never rake them from the grassed areas of the garden, preferring to leave them in place. Many insects find shelter under them during the winter and this in turn gives a supply of much needed food to the birds when other sources are low.
I do however seem to get a huge collection of leaves accumulate at the northern end of the house and I want to collect some of these to use in the plots next year. So I made this................

The Happy Gardeners Patented Leaf Storage Bin. ™ © ®
The cardboard at the base is to try to deter weeds and grass growing through the bottom. Now when the annual mountain of leaves collects in the usual place I can gather them up and store them in here.
A quick stop to admire............................

.......the companion Marigolds in Plot 6. They have really thrived this year and added wonderful colour to the garden.
The African Blue Basil..............

.....is once again covered with Honey Bees just as it was last year around this time. These plants will always find a home in my garden
Darkening skies of beauty and wonder...........................

.......and time to eat.
What could be better than some.....................

.....Homemade Tomato and Basil Soup with warm crusty bread and butter.

The recipe for this delightful dish is available from http://cookingdunkinstyle.blogspot.com/

I highly recommend that you try it.