Diary 9/29

I can really tell things are slowing down despite the hot weather of the last few days.  Although there are a few straggler corn ears, melons, and winter squash, the scurry of summer is fading to the calmer pace of fall as I watch sandcranes flying south overhead.  The v's of noisey birds head for the east side of Mt. McGloughlin and spend a day at Klamath Lake on their way.  I also noticed how the dogwoods are turning pink, a sure sign of fall.  I look forward to the tender spinach and radishes that are almost ready.

Diary 9/28

Busy morning harvesting nappa cabbage, bok choy, carrots, and green beans for bags.  Then tore out old bean vines, cucumber plants, melon's mess, and a cherry tomato that was not happy after the hard rain storm.  All this was accomplished with the help of one wwoofer and two neighbors.  Yeah!  Will start pulling drip lines out for tilling in corn, etc.  Time to say goodnight for the winter.  Meanwhile it was a terribly blue sky today.  Might not be that way tomorrow as there is a forest fire to the east...

Diary 9/27

Gettings beds together and planting garlic.

Diary 9/26

I am having trouble posting a picture to go with my exclamation, Bark! Oops!  Twice.  Bark! Bark!

Diary 9/25

This time of year, it is hard to get everything that could be harvested collected.  I see grey squirrels scurrying to and fro with the same intent, and I have great empathy for them.  I, too, am hurrying to get all that I can processed and made use of before the next rain and subsequent frost.  It is a manic event.  Today it was strawberries and dilly beans.  Yesterday it was tomatoes and raspberries.  Tomorrow it will be blackberries and? 

Diary 9/24

I see some indication that Autumn is upon us.  This is the season when powdery mildew sets in on squash and cucumbers.  The Fall Crocus are always a nice surprise.  Even Poison Oak looks good.  I  look forward to this season.  I always have so I don't think is based on the termination of the garden exactly.  I just like the change after the hot, dry struggles of summer. I love the colors of course, but having grown up in California, there really wasn't color change.  Not sure why it is, but I LOVE FALL!

Diary 9/23

Good harvest of winter squash.  They have some mud on them from last week's rain, but nice looking and not much bug damage on the larger ones.  Bugs just love to hide under anything on the ground.  We picked up and turned all the melons, but didn't do the squash.  Next year...

Diary 9/22

I had a sort of epiphany the other day.  I was all worried that figs didn't seem to have a flower.  They just appeared on the stems of the tree and there they were.   The figs must have heard my puzzling because they graphically showed me the answer.  The figs ARE the flowers!

Diary 9/21

Cool start to one of the last days of summer.  The snap is in the air, and things just smell different since the rain.  I think we avoided a frost this time, but after the next cold front goes by, we might not be as lucky.  The colors are just starting to change up on the mountain.  Could not find huckleberries where we looked, but may have to go further to find later ones that did not get knocked off by the rain or wind last weekend. Tilled areas are open to expose any weeds within.  One more tilling and then plant annual rye cover crop for over the winter. 

Diary 9/20

Harvest season is really upon us.  Quite a few watermelons are ready and some honeydews and canary melons, too.  A few split open from the rain. but got the rest elevated away from the wet soil in nests made of their branches.  Another box of tomatoes to go through and can up some sauce. Planted bok choy and nappa cabbage baies.  Will plant one more round of lettuce and some bush peas, and then I think that is going to do it for fall and over winter garden.  Have to start the walla walla onions for next year and also get the garlic in the ground.  Big winter squash harvest on Thursday. Here's a zucchini that got away from me!

Diary 9/19

I love the color of this Phlox, not sure of it's name.

Diary 9/18

The storm did arrive, but not until late afternoon.  It really packed a whallup when it did.  There were gusts of easily 70 miles per hour.  The trees lost all the small dry debris when it first came whirling up our canyon.  Then when one of the hardest rains I've ever experienced hit, so did some other very strong gusts that were able to tear these green branches right off the trees.  Busy canning and drying tomatoes as it continues to shower today.  I feel like cuddling with a book, but freezing some corn calls...

Diary 9/17

Great harvest yesterday including 3 gallons of blackberries.  The corn all came ready at once with only a few ears in each patch left to pick.  There is another succession with nice sized ears on, just a week or two shy of ripe.  Rain starts this afternoon and on through the weekend, so I will use the time to can tomatoes and maybe make jam.  Have a little transplanting of greens to do in the greenhouses, but will avoid the mud for now.

La Nina is back!

See post at Garden Question Lady blog for further info...

Diary 9/16

Have to get out there this AM and get picking before the showers and then rain hits. Green beans, strawberries, and corn are not under cover, so they are the first priorities.  The tomatoes in the greenhouse will split if they are fully ripe, so I will get them picked for tomorrow also.  I look forward to the automatic irrigation.  Sounds like it will only rain through the weekend and then clear up and be in the upper 70's for next week.  Should be perfect. 

Diary 9/15

Last night we had a visitor.  Big and probably fairly black, it cut quite a silouette against the light background of the plastic greenhouse wall.  I wasn't there to see it, but I can just imagine the size of the bear that made this imprint so deep and precise in the dust. 15 bags today.  A good harvest of new raspberries and plenty of strawberries to add in.  Rain due for Friday and through the weekend, so will harvest more of what I can tomorrow.  I will try to put a plastic sheet over a couple melon areas that don't need the water on them.  Worth a try, instead of losing them to spliting.  Look forward to a showery weekend and getting some "fall" cleaning done.  It feels like things are changing.  They say La Nina is back!!!

Diary 9/14

Harvesting corn. not a huge amount, but a few dozen of each variety.  The ears of the yellow and white corn, Moon and Stars, are huge.  They are filled out to the ends well and are of such size they must be eaten by corn lovers.  The white corn, Silver something, is small, delicate, and crisp.  Not as sweet as if the weather had not turned cool last week, but still delicious.  The yellow is sort of in between on all accounts.  We grew Jubilee this year.  Had to do some tasting over the weekend.  We brought in an expert on this one.

Diary 9/13

I had to run off some open range cows this evening as they edged ever closer to the blueberry area.  Don't get me started about "range rights".  It seems a bit archaic.  Anyway, the fence I put up, the non-electrified one, seems to be working.  PLEASE don't tell the cows.  It is the calves that are the trouble makers.  They will get through a fence and then the mother's cow's instincts take over.  There isn't a fence that will keep her from her bawling baby.  I just want a little more time to get the corn and winter squash in.  Had a few ears of corn over the weekend, and now quite a bit is finishing up. The winter squash is not in a fenced area.  So far, they have been left alone, but I hate to press my luck.  New help coming on Friday, so maybe Saturday we will have a squash harvest session.

Dairy 9/12

Mums the word!

Diary 9/11

Visitors, family, and a little more canning.  Harvest seems to come all at once.  There is more to pick, gather, and put up for the winter than can ever be accomplished.  The wild blackberries, for instance, come right when I have all this other produce to process.  I will get to them this week, I promise myself.  The old truck makes a good armiture for a few roving vines.  The berries are happy about the recent rain, and now with a few days of sun will finish up with perfect sweetness.

Diary 9/10

Only strawberries were massacred in the filming of these children.  The water play at the end of their greenhouse visit helped, but not entirely.  Good times. Canning, canning, and yes, more canning. It always feels so great lining the jars up on the pantry shelves.  14 more peaches and 13 tomatoes today.  Hope to make some salsa and do some more peaches tomorrow.  Serious jar organization including some donated by the neighbor for the cause.

Diary 9/9

Just pulled the last of the peaches out of the canner for tonight.  That makes 24 jars of preserves and 14 jars of peach slices.  That is a good days work, especially with a one year old in the house...

Diary 9/8

.4 inches of rain overnight.  Everything has received a good drink.  I hope that brings up any weed prouts in the areas we have tilled and are ready to plant with cover crop for winter.  If the weeds appear, we can till again and eliminate all of them in one fell swoop (sp?).  Greens are coming on strong.  They like the change.  Busy busy canning schedule ahead.  I saw one gal's blog had her canning completion list in her side bar.  Oregon Cottage, I believe. There are sooo many good garden blogs out there. It is like going on a tour. Cheap thrills for this here farmer.

Diary 9/7

Change in the weather due today.  It already attempted to sprinkle.  Second turning of the compost pile.  Adding water as it was still dry inside.  The cooler temps will slow the reaction down, but internally it will still keep decaying.  Radishes planted on Saturday are up already.  The spinach babies are enjoying this cooler time, and although production will fall off for a few days, so am I!

Diary 9/6

Happy Labor Day!  Oh, here are some laborers, now.  The team from Hermiston works on fall garden beds and some areas for over winter spinach and carrots.  Almost finished WWOOF(World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms) hosting for this year.  Have had 9 different wwoofers here since May. I get some help and in return I think they learn something about farming while they are here.  I take that pretty seriously. They certainly get in a little better shape, and the food couldn't be fresher! 

Diary 9/5

Wild Zinnias, wild with color!

Diary 9/4

Cooler day.  Planted some cauliflower starts, cabbage starts, radish, napa cabbage and bok choi seed. Cooling way down tomorrow.  Digger squirrel #33 finds a new home.  Blanching tomatoes to can and make sauce.

Diary 9/3

A part of today's harvest

Hot day, tired farmer.  Labor Day weekend has little meaning, but I hope to pick wild blackberries and make cobbler and jam as a "fun" activity.  Sleeping in also sounds like fun to me; a sign of my age, I suppose.  Party Hardy everyone else, and I will rest.  Summer is over?!xxx?

Diary 9/2

Harvest tomorrow will include these beans.  I have one more outdoor succession and then back into the greenhouse for a couple rounds of green beans before it is too wet and everything gets black spot and the season comes to an end.  Cool weather in the forecast for the end of the holiday.  It may only be in the 60's here on Monday and it was well over 90 today.  I will batten down the hatches and cancel bags for next Friday in case there is no reproduction with so much cold.  If the tomatoes do come through with a flush despite the cold, then I will get some more canned for us!

Diary 9/1

Worked over the compost pile. Thought it best to get on with it before the cold weather sets in and we can't get it finished. The idea is to follow a 14 day plan with turning every third day or so. This speedy method really can produce the best compost because nothing leaches away. The usual problem here is not enough moisture to get it to work; create a bacterial reaction that causes the pile to heat up to temperatures close to 150 degrees. True compost must retain these high temperatures to kill toxins, weed seeds, and promote microorganisms. By turning every third day, new air is introduced and the pile heats up each time. After only a couple weeks, everything is broken down and the pile cools down and is stable. The Nitrogen is no longer too strong, but bond up in organic matter. It is amazing how clean smelling the rotten mess becomes!