Not sure when we’re going to our local orchard festivities, but we have playing with the apple cannons over there on our radar this season.
When we had lockdowns lifted, it was so fun to go to the first festival over there; seeing all the kids jumping in hay piles and getting tractor rides, music playing, it was the best thing ever!
I hope to never see our citizenry allow another lockdown ever.
Dried fruits, flowers and leaves:
Dried whole rose blooms:
Ophelia is currently blowing through. We have just under an inch of rain in the gauge since last evening & the heavy rain should come through this afternoon. Winds are gusty, but not as bad as I thought they would be - hopefully no power loss.
I received the book I ordered: The Healing Garden (Juliet Blankespoor). It is a beautiful book (pictures), but the amount of detailed info on growing/using herbs is unreal. I cannot imagine writing such a book! It’s a bit daunting to look at all that is in the book & then my measly little herb garden by comparison, but you have to start somewhere! The author claims “this book will grow you” & I believe it - lots of room for growth from my perspective.
Speaking of my herb garden, my SIL walked up to talk to me at the garden yesterday morning. The pollinators were getting busy - she commented on what a nice little garden it was and the other awesome thing was we could actually smell the herbs - it was one of those ‘moments’ you have with a garden that is special & makes the work worth it.
As for ‘work’, spent 5 hours yesterday taking down fences around the veggie raised beds, moving things around, & made one run to the debris pile with some plants I cut down. There was still a lot to do, but the clouds were ominous & the wind had really picked up, so I called it a day & battened down the hatches for Ophelia.
There is a pasture raised meat chicken in the slow cooker & a spaghetti squash from the garden on the counter. It’s a good day for chicken ‘noodle’ soup while the rain pours, the wind blows, & the temps are on the cooler side.
Cooler weather finally in So Cal - low to mid-70s with little variation for the next two weeks - I may be able to put in my winter flower beds after all -they'll be wiped out if we have another heat wave, and that is a distinct possibility.
Meanwhile, we are enjoying re-blooming irises:
Variegated verbena:
Plumeria are still pumping out flowers, but slower now that it's fall:
Kitty caught three tree rats last week, one of which she dragged into the house still squealing:
Happy Saturday...and Gardening...my Early Girl tomatoe bush is producing but got so big even my props couldn’t hold it up...hoping it hangs on till frost...gotta get busy preserving!
Johnny’s has a lot of stuff on sale right now.
https://www.johnnyseeds.com/sale/
https://www.johnnyseeds.com/sale/sale-tools-supplies/
https://www.johnnyseeds.com/sale/sale-vegetables/
Tons of row cover.
Of specific interest to me: Greenhouse/tunnel vents and vent openers & Greenhouse/tunnel plastic film.