Late Summer Garden

It's almost fall, and we're finally getting our first taste of warm weather. All the plants are hurrying to ripen up their fruits and seeds, and I'm hurrying to keep up with the harvesting. The main crop blackberries are on now, while the tayberries, marionberries, cascade blackberries, and raspberries are finally finished.

 

I've made a nice collection of jams and jellies from our berries, and even a big batch of pickles, all from our home grown cucumbers. I love seeing the pantry shelves so nice and full of good preserves.

I'm very excited that we're going to harvest our first ever crop of asian pears! There will be three of them. There were originally two fruits on each tree, but one of them dropped off. The three that are left are looking really delicious, though. MMMMM.

 

We are also looking forward to our first hardy kiwi. I was super surprised to see flowers this spring, there were about 6 of them. Only one set fruit, and it's still firm and green. I really don't know when to expect it to get ripe, so I check it every few days.

 

Our little tomato starts have grown into big, healthy bushes with lots of green 'matos on them, and a few are starting to turn color. I sure hope we have a good stretch of warm, dry weather so more than a couple of them can actually ripen this year. I'm not sure why I keep trying to grow tomatoes without a greenhouse in damp, cold Whatcom county, but looking at these bushes now I get hopeful all over again. Maybe this year will be THE year...

 

The sunflowers are huge and lovely this time of year. I planted them in a circle in the center of the garden, about 10' across. Standing inside the sunflower ring is pretty cool. When I planted it, my idea was that it would be a place for Conan to play, but he doesn't seem very interested in it. Fine by me if it becomes a sanctuary for me instead!