The Joys of Fall Vegetable Gardening

It's kind of hard to know at this point what the end result will be in the fall veggie garden. The challenges have been numerous.

"So," you say, "that's nothing new in any garden."

"True," I say.

Only this season it feels as though just when we thought we got some things right ... one more adverse element was on our heels to challenge our tenacity.

I just keep telling myself "every ounce of diligence is worth it ~~ not to have to purchase days-old green beans from the market." The voice in my head that keeps me steady through it all reminds me how very invigorating it is to pick from the vine and sauté in the skillet for a delightful yummy freshness of which there is no replica.

We are happy to say we've been doing just that lately.

Maybe it's my tummy afterall and not my head that rules with such determination. *grin*

The summer squash is very happy we have finally dropped to temperatures yielding decent growing conditions.

After waiting until the last possible (planting calendar) date for our zone the lettuces, spinach, carrots, collards, beans, squash, broccoli, radishes, tomatoes (started earlier in the patio) and onions were seeded. What followed were four interminably, sweltering October weeks of unseasonably high temps. Day and night.

Those little seeds were begging for mercy but gave their best by popping out of the ground anyway. Bedraggled and stunted there was something else going on they were having to overcome.

Somehow the armadillos, I've always had to deal with in the rest of the garden, found a way into the fenced-off veggie garden. What they discovered by rooting their ghastly snouts into all that luscious soil was a gold mine of big fat earthworms. Ahhh... midnight delicacies easily supplying these night creatures with full tummies.

We managed to trap (and release into some woodlands) one of them. There are more and we are relentless in our pursuit to capture as many as we can. Some temporary fencing has been erected around each raised bed; too costly, but sometimes you have to pay for peace of mind.

As the heat and animal activity took its toll it was clear some re-seeding was necessary. Most of the onions, carrots, lettuce, spinach, and broccoli just didn't have a chance given the elements against them. It was kind of comical to see the radishes moved from one side of their hill to the other. Well, I wasn't really laughing... but to an onlooker it might have been comical.

The cool weather (re-seeded) veggies will probably still produce and maybe even better now that we have finally slipped into some cooler temps at night. There is possibly an up-side to all this trickery that goes into producing edibles.

The few tomato plants that survived the unintended additional tilling by the varmints are now producing some fruit.

The poor collard greens must be super-tough to withstand all the nose-nudging they've endured over the weeks. I've tucked and re-tucked their roots back into the ground as they were shifted around.

Last year I waited until spring to plant nasturtiums. This year I'm getting a head start as I think they'll be happier longer in this milder season. Flowers soon... hopefully.

In the meantime, the blue porterweed, the cosmos, alyssum, bacopa, pentas, black and blue salvia, salvia coccinea and ...

maple leaf hibiscus draw in the butterflies, bees, and flying critters of all kinds to keep everything balanced.

This time of year is so much easier to garden ... once we get through all those pesky troubles, that is. I'm pretty sure it's all going to be uphill from now on. *grin*

Happy Autumn! I sure hope your garden is bringing you lots of smiles, Meems