Summer Gardening is Ending... But Have No Fear, Fall Gardening is Underway!

The last time we talked it was the end of April (officially the beginning of the summer in the Southwest), and my garden was gearing up to survive the heat... (To Recap).

Sadly, the broccoli didn't survive the cabbage worm infestation and the heat. Next time I'll try a cover - maybe pantyhose cut and stretched out across the top of the contained will stop the evil cabbage moths from propagating all over my broccoli greens.

We harvested both bins of potatoes, and learned a harsh lesson. When page 173 of your Moosewood Gardening bible tells you that potatoes will not grow in temps higher than 85 degrees, it most definitely means they won't grow in 110 degrees!

harvesting potatoes

Look at the mighty growth!

So we did get a few goods sized ones early in the summer

M marveling at our bountiful harvest   j/k

The bell pepper plant finally started to really grow, only to be knocked down by several windstorms. I'll have to work on a windscreen for next year. (The shade structure also didn't do well in the windstorms. shocking, i know, since it was an example of such fine craftsmanship.)

We are managing to get a few bell peppers after I enclosed the thing in a cage. Used a few last night and they were delicious!

Our two tomato plants are either getting too much water, not enough water, or both and don't like the wild watering swings... But, we are getting a few tomatoes! Some of them had blossom-end rot. I found a DIY recipe that calls for salt... Salt! (*Epsom salt to be exact - see note at bottom...) So now our tomatoes are getting salted each week and the rot is happening less frequently.

 We moved the herbs to a more sheltered location, underneath a heavily shaded shrub area. They are doing fantastic!

Thai basil that looks and smells fantastic

Rosemary and mint are doing great - the green bucket has cilantro...

seriously, i just threw cilantro seeds into the potato bin and moved it
out of the way

We cannot stop growing sage! Every other week I harvest half and
take it home, and when I come back... more sage!

In other parts of the backyard, the wild things are going crazy in this mild temperature monsoon season.

lantana comes back year after year and looks great!

This thing, which i honestly thought might be weed
and began googling pictures of weed leaves (shout-out to
NSA!), turns out to be NOT WEED. I can't remember
what it is, M can, but its NOT WEED.

wild and crazy yard

what the hell is this? internet! i need your help.

close-up of the i-have-no-idea plant..
perennial, full sun

Winnie scouts for pecans

She's so freaking cute!

So fall planting is coming up in a month or so... Broccoli (with pantyhose covering), garlic, sweet onions, spinach, and green beans.... The garlic grows best over winter and we can harvest in spring. The spinach loves cool weather. The green beans I'm not sure about but I have seeds!

*Regarding the salting of plants to stop blossom-rot. Turns out I just found out that Epsom salt isn't table salt... So maybe I'm killing my tomatoes with a little NaCl when I should be using MgSO4!