Here in Madison you can definitely tell that we’ve turned the corner towards fall. We’ve had some chilly nights where we’ve had to close all of our windows, my asters are blooming, and I think I’m done eating cantaloupe and am almost ready to move on to winter squash.
While my September garden still looks very lush and colorful, it’s a different garden than it was during the last garden tour in July. Here’s what’s happening in the last full month of the frost free gardening season around these parts!
I climbed up on a ladder to get this photo of my front yard garden from above. Below is the view from the street. Mostly asters blooming in the perennial garden now. It definitely needs an overhaul next spring.
The herb spiral is overflowing with herbs. I’ve started to freeze lots of parsley for winter use.
I planted a late crop of a yellow/purple/green bean mix so I’ve got a new bed coming on. I have to say, I’m a little tired of picking beans, although I never tire of eating them!
I’ve planted all of my fall crops and they’re growing fast. In this bed are my salad greens, from top: arugula, baby bok choi, mizuna, tatsoi, and spinach.
This time of year is all about the harvest…and cooking and preserving it. I’ve been having fun taking photos of the bounty.
Next up, the side yard garden. You may notice that I finally finished painting that side of the house. Goodbye mint green from 1964, hello slate gray.
I definitely over planted the hog panel trellis in the below photo. It’s dripping with greenery but there’s not many flowers. In the front left are some favorite zinnias (State Fair and Peppermint Stick), on the right is okra finally getting tall! Under the trellis I have two rows of potatoes that are ready to be harvested.
It’s all about red peppers right now. My plants are loaded and I’m cooking lots of recipes for dinner and freezing piles of them!
After I harvested my onions I planted a buckwheat cover crop. The insect activity on the flowers always amazes me! A honey bee getting busy in the morning light below.
A photographer friend came over one night and took a lot of photos of me in the garden. I was in front of the lens for once!
And finally, something totally new to me this year. I bought two figs to keep in pots on my back steps. In the last few weeks we’ve had a ripe fig here and there. Just for snacking, not enough for cooking with yet.
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Comments
I want to know where you got your fig plants! And also, how do you take care of them? I’m curious about growing tender plants like figs and small lemon trees indoors in this climate where they clearly won’t survive in an outdoor garden all winter.
Susan- They do sell them at Jung’s each year in the spring. I waited too long so had to order mine from Ebay. I have Chicago Hardy and Brown Turkey. They’re both in big pots on my back steps. I put them out after last frost in spring and leave them out through the first early frosts in winter so they drop their leaves. Then they go into a dark closet in my basement where they sit until late winter. They usually start putting on leaves in the closet in March and I bring them up into my living room until they can go outside. They’re pretty easy except for needing to water the pots frequently.
Your peppers are perfect! Also- good for you geting in front of the lens!
Thanks, Beverly! The pepper varieties I plant have a lot to do with it.