Fall Garden

Well, we haven't had any frosts yet, although there have been some chillier nights in the past week that have started dipping down into the upper 30's. That means that some plants are still holding on in the garden, but I've yanked a lot of stuff out that was past its prime or not really going to produce anything more of substance this fall, to make way for the start of the big manure push of 2013. Hah!

That being said, here is the garden tour of late September!

The chickens have been enjoying all the garden scraps and plants lately, and check out the new rooster at the very right of this picture. He's still rather shy and reclusive, and the ladies aren't tolerating his young adultness very well, but he'll grow up and we'll see how he does next spring! Chicks maybe? Yes please :)

This is the last remnant of the sunflower row beside the chicken coop, the rest have been happily devoured by the chickens over the last couple weeks. We've started clipping ones from down in the fields and feeding them to the chickens too, as they love those sunflower seeds so much!

The pigs were very happy with all of the corn discards, and are sizing up fairly well. We aren't as happy with these mixed breeds as the Berkshire of last year, in terms of food interest, rooting around, and weight gain, but I'm holding my final opinion until we see what the cost/weight is at butcher time.

Little M is rather looking forward to carving this volunteer huge pumpkin!

Yup, this supposed to be two rows of strawberries... needs weeding much?

My happy place.

The lower garden. Tomatoes, zucchini, and marigolds remaining. Potatoes, lettuce, garlic, and onions all pulled up and the areas well chicken manured.

Green beans and kale remaining, unproductive squash, corn, and cucumbers all pulled up. Piles of pig manure waiting to be turned in.

I love these large orange marigolds! Grow them every year.

Pitiful tomato plants, but producing enough to keep our daily needs for tomatoes satisfied. Next year there will be better fertilizer and more plants!

Well, that's the fall garden! I hope your fall garden is winding slowly down to winter too :)