Knowing your onions.

Sunday 12th October.


Early in the season I had to convert Plot 1 into an onion patch in an attempt to rid myself of the pesky Carrot Beetles which were still in there from the year before. It seems to have worked, I've seen very few of the beetles for months now. But I've decided that, for the time being at least, this plot is going to stay that way.
So, I had a tidy up in there, added some compost and gave it a digging over...............


The plants look healthy.................................

........despite me ignoring them all season.
I then pulled one, just to see how they were.

Small, but tasty and a handy crop to be had when the rest of the garden is dormant.
These small bulbs form at the top of the plant

As the season progressed they fell off. I gathered them and planted a single row along the back edge of the plot, up against the shed wall. Some had already started to grow.............

.....and were replanted in a more suitable location.
The Brussels Sprouts plants have been under attack.

Some leaves have been heavily chewed, some completely eaten.
I now know who is to blame.........................

This fellow, and his hundreds of buddies which are around at the moment.
Good news! My first volunteer Tomato is ready.

Not bad for free eh? The plant that produced this fine looking fruit grew out of the compost I applied to one of the plots earlier. It's has to be from one of my seeds of last year so is probably a Big Red. Pure bred or mongrel, it's welcome on the table.
The Kohlrabi is starting to bulb up in Plot 5. I've never tasted this strange looking veggie and hope that it's successful enough for me to try.
The name comes from two German words. Kohl meaning Cabbage and Rabi meaning Turnip.
The rest of Plot 5 is doing well. As you can see.....................

....it's like a jungle in there.
I'm delighted with the progress of the Chard and cropped some to have with our dinner.
The leaves have almost doubled in size in a couple of weeks. This is another green I'm hoping will supply the table over the winter.
Last week, did I say that the Tomatoes were about over and done with??

Did I??


Did I really? I think I was mistaken. Although the vines look ragged and untidy the fruit just keeps on coming.
But Autumn is creeping up on us for sure. The trees are shedding their leaves...............

......and the Persimmon fruits are starting to turn a delightful orange colour.
Evening skies are dark.................

......with a slight chance of rain perhaps.
Time for dinner

Homemade Quiche, Rosemary Potatoes and garden fresh Chard sauteed with garlic.
Visit my wife's cooking blog at http://www.range-warfare.blogspot.com/ for this and other tasty recipes.
A delightful close to the weekend

More Autumn planting.

Sunday 5th October

Rising at 8-00am to Autumn skies of wonder.

We had rain in the early hours of Saturday morning. Sunday starts dull but soon clears up.
Temperatures remain..................

.....well within the Happy Gardener's comfort zone.
Let's have a check on progress.
Plot 1

Winter onions continue to grow...............
Plot 2

I planted out 2 of the Brussels Sprouts seedlings last Monday.
Today I put in the rest and mulched with fresh straw.
Plot 3

Green Yolo Bell Peppers continue their outstanding production................

.....as do the reds. All plants are literally covered with produce.
Plot 4.

The first of the volunteer tomatoes are beginning to get a little hint of colour.
Plot 5

The Swiss Chard looks settled in it's new home..........................

......and the Cabbage, Cauliflower and Kohlrabi all look healthy too.
Plot 6 tomato production is finally at an end but I've left everything in place because of the heavy bee traffic that's going on at the moment. Once things quieten off I'll clear the plot ready for the winter.
Around the front of the house the Red Chrysanthemum is almost in full bloom

What a beauty!

The new yellow 'mum looks pretty good too.
The tiny saplings I planted at the start of the year have all made good progress.

I'll have to be thinking about sorting out some covers for these new trees soon.

The Catnip..................

.....is in flower. I need to find a new permanent home for these plants too.

More preparation

Sunday 28th September

Sunrise in Oklahomegrownvegland

Its a misty start to the day but temperatures are due to get pretty high.
Today I'm planning on getting Plot 2 thoroughly dug over and supplimented with a bag of home made compost. it's hard work as the day gets hotter and hotter but I managed to get it done.

I then got the lengths of rebar hammered into position ready for the plastic cover supports.

I have the plastic sheet ready but I'll erect it next week I think. I'm planning on putting my Brussel Sprout plants in this bed and the temperatures are rather high at the moment so I'm leaving the bed uncovered a while longer. Sprouts are one of the hardiest veggies around and can stand low temps, frost and even a little snow. A lot of people say that these veggies actually taste better when they have had some frost on them. So, no rush as long as I get the plants settled in and established before night time temperatures drop.
Plot 5 fall veggies are looking good as shown in the picture below..................

I've lost one Cauliflower plant, no idea why. The rest look healthy, as do all the Cabbage and Kohlrabi. I intend to mulch this bed with straw during the next week and give the whole lot a good feed of Fish Emulsion fertilizer. I've already given it another dose of Iron Phosphate as I'm determined that those pesky Woodlice will not ruin these plants.
I had a nice suprise awaiting me when I made a trip to our local Garden center.........

..................Northern Lights Chard plants, all looking for a good home. I picked up two and they are now in the vacant space at the end of Plot 5. My efforts at growing this veggie from seed failed, probably due to the plants going out too late. Chard doesn't like too much heat and I think it retarded the growth of the ones I planted. Well, I'll see how these go on and if they look to be doing well I'll make a return trip to the garden center and pick up a few more of the smaller plants that they had on offer. That way we can enjoy a few fresh greens when the hot weather finally comes to an end. I also picked up another yellow Chrysanthimum to replace one which died in the ice storm

The red 'mum which did survive that horrific cold blast is now beginning to open out..........

......and what a great display it's putting on for us too.
All the catnip has been repotted and has now found a new temporary home.................

......at the front of the house under the kitchen window. The Sage however has been moved........

.........to a warmer location and is now drying inside the house. Us Brits like to have our turkey dinner at Christmas so as a way of a change we have purchased some lamb for our Thanksgiving dinner. Our homegrown sage will be used to enhance the flavour of this wonderful meat.
The tomato fest continues. I still pick a few every other day but things are slowing down. Some of the fruits have been splitting due to the temperature fluctuations and these have been saved for their seeds. The good ones are being used in Spinach Salad, homemade burgers on the grill and ..........

..........wonderful Tomato and Basil soup which is then frozen and kept to be enjoyed on cold winter evenings later in the year.
It's really hard to believe that it's almost the start of October, this year has flown by. Summer is behind us now and the joys of cooler weather, Autumn colours, hot comfort food and log fires are on the horizon. I'm really looking forward to it.

Here's two guys who are looking forward to a spell of cooler weather too. Wilson and Tommy know exactly where the air conditioning vents blow and like to enjoy a cool, relaxing snooze together on the bed.

Autumn preparations

Sunday 21st September

Rising at 7-00am.
Alvin calls to tell me he's left my breakfast on the patio, a large dead field rat.

I dispose of it when he's not looking and boil a couple of eggs instead.

Hey, is it that time again, already?

Sadly, yes. It always seems to be that time in Oklahomegrownvegland these days.

Mumping and grumping wont help though, you've got to "Gidder Done"

Ok, its done......

....and back to golf course standard (almost).

Then a little tidying up around the garden. I move the sheet back which is covering some top soil and this chap gives me a dirty look.

"Hey, I'm trying to sleep here!" I replace the sheet and leave him to his rest.

One of the Willow Tree cuttings seems to have taken.

Now, all I have to do is nurse it through the winter.
The chrysanthemums in the front garden is covered in buds............

....and will be a blaze of colour in a few days.

This was the plant that froze solid in the ice storm at the beginning of the year. I'm sure that if it can survive such a hard winter it must be here to stay.

I also chopped a couple of lower limbs from one of the Persimmon trees.

They were very heavy with fruit and their weight was adding to the rather worrying list it's acquired since the ice storm.

Around the back of the house, in the field adjoining our property there's wild flowers in abundance giving a colourful display of Mother Natures finest.

Free floral display.

I planted more fall veggies on Monday evening and they seem to have settles in.

(L to R) Cauliflower, Kohlrabi, Cabbage.

The Brussel Sprout seedlings are still indoors but will be going in within the next week or so.

Meanwhile.........................

........the Tomato seed storage continues.

The Coriander seeds are still drying in the kitchen.

The Catnip plants are getting quite tall and will need repotting, a little job for one evening next week perhaps.

I decide to give Tommy a little sniff of the plant to see if there's any reaction.........

.......and the results are quite startling. He turns into a savage beast......

......for almost 2 seconds. Then it's business as usual.

To be honest, up to now I've seen no reaction with any of our cats from this herb. Oh well.