Around this time every year, we would drive around and see gardens that are either totally overgrown with weeds that they look more like the Amazonian jungle, or harvested, tilled over and bare. And dh would exclaim "what? I can't believe they're not planting their fall garden!" He's so predictable in his old age (just kidding, dear!).
So what goes in a fall garden? For us, it's a number of things. Let me give you a little tour again.
Taking a peek inside the greenhouse, you can see our carpet of cilantro which dh is replacing (or has replaced) with leeks and broccoli, and will later replace those with spinach, which will, hopefully, last all winter. Oh, and there's a squash plant in the corner.
In the main garden, this is a bed that contains kohlrabi (front), spinach, and various lettuce:
A close up view of the lettuce mix and the spinach next to it:
Our celery has done well again this year:
In the front bed, we have frisee on the left, and Chinese (napa) cabbage on the right. Behind that is a bed of kale (left) and broccoli. And then in various beds behind that are beets, daikon, leeks, and more broccoli:
A close up of that bed with the beets and daikon (behind it, you can see our spent green beans bed and some old kale and dying tomato plants behind that):
A close up of the Hungarian yellow pepper (at least that's what we think it is):
A bunch of Asian greens are sprouting, some gai lan, some red bok choy:
This is the bed we worked so hard on last weekend to clear out all the old summer crops (such as corn, green beans, edamame). It's now ready to be planted next spring:
One of our surviving watermelons...we've not had as good a crop as some years:
Dino, one of our younger hens hatched out by Gaia, who is broody again. (We have Gaia sitting on about 14 eggs and hope a few will hatch...if our rooster did his job.)
A view of our driveway looking from the road:
One of our ugly, but tasty, apples:
Are any of you having a fall garden? If so, what are you growing?
"I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be." ~ Douglas Adams
Then, we (or herbivores or other omnivores) eat the plants to get their sugar and breathe in oxygen which creates energy (for living), as well as by-products of carbon dioxide and water.
The chemistry gets far more complex than this! :}
Because Grace requested it, here's the recipe!
I'm making tiramisu today, using the sponge cake recipe from the King Arthur Flour cookbook, and Lavender Soap's mascarpone topping recipe.
Here's the recipe by Suzanne Mullins of Charlottesville, VA:
As for the giveaway, the prize will be this handmade (by moi!) bone-motif ceramic bead. But, you'll have to come back mid-week for details. Yes, I'm a tease.
"I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be." ~ Douglas Adams
On September 23rd, 1968, my dear baby sister (that's her on the left) was born! I was a spoiled rotten 4 year old and my poor sis put up with me all these years (look up "bossy" in the dictionary and you'll see a photo of me). Happy birthday to the best sister a gal could ask for!
In the main garden, this is a bed that contains kohlrabi (front), spinach, and various lettuce:
A close up view of the lettuce mix and the spinach next to it:
Our celery has done well again this year:
In the front bed, we have frisee on the left, and Chinese (napa) cabbage on the right. Behind that is a bed of kale (left) and broccoli. And then in various beds behind that are beets, daikon, leeks, and more broccoli:
A close up of that bed with the beets and daikon (behind it, you can see our spent green beans bed and some old kale and dying tomato plants behind that):
A close up of the Hungarian yellow pepper (at least that's what we think it is):
A bunch of Asian greens are sprouting, some gai lan, some red bok choy:
This is the bed we worked so hard on last weekend to clear out all the old summer crops (such as corn, green beans, edamame). It's now ready to be planted next spring:
One of our surviving watermelons...we've not had as good a crop as some years:
Dino, one of our younger hens hatched out by Gaia, who is broody again. (We have Gaia sitting on about 14 eggs and hope a few will hatch...if our rooster did his job.)
A view of our driveway looking from the road:
One of our ugly, but tasty, apples:
Are any of you having a fall garden? If so, what are you growing?
I took a bunch of photos of our garden and our chickens to show you, but I'm saving that for later. In the meantime, you can admire our fake farmyard friends. I know Blonde Duck will appreciate this:
What are you thankful for this week? 
and, because Firefly Mom can't tire of looking at photos of our tomatoes, here's another basketful:
Multiply that by 8 and that means we canned 7 quarts and 14 pints of tomato sauce yesterday.
You lift the leaf lid and the trunk of the tree is a cavity in which you can store jewelry or whatever treasure you want!
Ds#1 decided to make a stylized earth star bowl. For those of you not mycologically-inclined, earth stars are a type of fungus (puff balls, in fact).
Not to be out-done by us, dh cooked up some wild Alaskan salmon for dinner on Saturday. He made his own charmoula sauce, and whipped up his usual yummy Greek salad:
I know you never get tired of looking at our tomato photos...hah!
And from these tomatoes, we canned another 14 quarts of sauce.
What else have I been working on? Well, after seeing the cutest post at Lorie's Be Different Act Normal blog, I decided to whip up a bandana apron myself. Haven't gotten too far yet. I put some pleats in the black bandana for the bodice and attached it to bottom half. I am a messy person in the kitchen, and if I didn't have a bodice on my apron, I may as well not wear one at all.
And speaking of aprons, go check out and enter Amber's Ambry's 200th post giveaway!
I hope those of you who have Labor Day off today are having a wonderful holiday weekend! Are you doing something fun and out-of-the-ordinary?