Weekly Garden Thread - September 30-October 6, 2023 [The Science of Fall Colors Edition]

September 30,2023 | Diana in WI/Greeneyes in Memoriam

[cherry]

"The wheel of seasons keeps turning no matter what else happens. Comforting, that."

that is poetry...

its also why I prefer living in a 4 season type area....the changes are all welcome...

spring and summer bring all consuming planning, planting, tending your garden...

fall brings wonderful harvest...

and winter, thankfully winter gives us a time for resting up and nesting....

love them all...

[MomwithHope]

Sent hubby to pick a couple of ripe red peppers for our salad. This particular pepper plant is in a huge pot on a brick patio. Found this guy taking a nap on top of one of the peppers. Hours later and he is still there. Tree frog

[Diana in Wisconsin]

I am all for saving a buck where you can. :)

[Qiviut]

We had company today & it was such a beautiful day, we spent a good bit of time sitting on the porch talking. I kept an eye on the hummer feeder, waiting to see them and there were none the whole time. This evening, I sat out again, waiting to see them come in and tank up for the night ... saw 2. One didn’t seem to know exactly what to do with the feeder.

I am so bummed out to think the hummers have migrated away. Looking at typical times, Oct. 1 seems to be around the time they go. I guess my biggest issue with this is I am having a hard time wrapping my head around the fact that it IS October! Where has the year gone? I guess we (mom & I) pretty much went through the first 6 months in a fog & that has something to do with it.

[MomwithHope]

We aren’t seeing many either but in the spring we do have migrants that stop here and then go further north. The ones I am seeing now make a pit stop then they are gone. We leave our feeder up until we get frost.

[Qiviut]

I leave the feeders up, too ....usually to Nov. 1. The hummer who didn’t know what to do with the feeder was probably a migrant coming through - it did go to some nearby flowers & checked them out. The ones we had around here the last couple of months definitely knew how to use the feeder!

[Diana in Wisconsin]

My Hummingbirds left weeks ago. It’s further from Wisconsin to Costa Rica than from your house. ;)

Don’t worry - they’ll be back next Spring! :)

[Diana in Wisconsin]

He’s beautiful! :)

[Qiviut]

Yeah, I know they’ll be back, but I get VERY attached. The one feeder is right next to the front porch - we have a swing, rocking chairs & a (new this summer) little “bistro” table/chairs set for eating outside. This all means I see the hummers a lot & when they go, the place seems very empty until I adjust.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

“...the place seems very empty until I adjust.”

I’m adjusting to having my porch back from the puppies who are now in the kennel shed because they’ve been venturing too far from home. :(

I will admit it IS kind of nice to walk out the door and not be mobbed, though. ;)

[MomwithHope]

We love our tree frogs. They are dry and not smelly or slimy.

[Pollard]

Just ordered some Fall seeds, albeit a little late. Everything I ordered can be baby salad greens though. The wasabi arugala is 35 days to maturity, sprouts in 5-7 days and is frost hardy so no problem there. Will have to go through my existing seeds and pull out cold hardy, greens etc. Hopefully the free packet of seeds will be in season.

Oddly, they say can grow year round in all but the most extreme climates but go on to classify it as not being frost hardy.

I imagine tossing some plastic over it on cold nights will keep it going for a while. Might grow some salad indoors too.

Winter harvest, plus it's a cabbage, but yet again, they say not frost hardy. Ought to be a big hit with my co-workers. One had a stent put in a year ago and is a health food nut now and eats "a lot of salads". The other said he loves cabbage, especially raw.(here, have a cabbage stick) Yes, three blue collar guys were talking salads/greens/cabbage.

The above two say 4-6 hours of sun. Two others say 4-10 hours and one says full sun. We'll see how they all handle short days. Can't have the garden just sitting there growing nothing.

Got a cool spell coming up with daytime temps in the mid 60s and night time down around 40. The tomatoes aren't going to like that. I already retired one tomato plant that was just done for the year.

Hmm, I'm going to have to finish that pepper/onion dressing recipe. The pepper/onion relish base should still be fine. It was canned.

Seeds will probably be here today along with another tech gadget/toy, an industrial touch screen monitor/display. Along with the industrial mini PC I got a week ago, they will be my High Tunnel Command and Control Center. LOL

With the cool weather coming, I won't mind doing the cutting/welding on the high tunnel frames. Won't be sweating and being attacked by bugs and I can wear long sleeves for some spark protection and welding rays burn protection(think sunburn).

[Pollard]

Fall Colors are very variable here in the Ozarks but most years are so so. Kind of a shame since this is hill country with lots of views.

Mailman just came and the free seed packet is --- Radish, Japanese Wasabi (to go with the Arugala, Wasabi)

I didn't plan on oriental salads. I was just buying cool weather greens I've never had before.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

I forgot that Wasabi was a radish; I always thought it was some sort of powerful Horseradish, but they’re probably related somehow.

I had Horseradish coming up through BLACKTOP at my other farm. It’s hard to kill!

[daniel1212]

They’ve made some goid breakthroughs with disease resistance...nothing for septoria yet. We keep everything covered with copper and oxidate, but we have access to a few chemicals with “look back” that can actually stop damage if caught early enough...but it’s always best to prevent it in the first place right? Anyway, did you get the same Noah’s deluge the other day as we did in Central MA?

I try to stay organic, and next year I may plant something else than just toms. And yes, we get a lot of rain, but not as much as you all in Central MA. No drought for sure/

[Qiviut]

I do still have a few hummingbirds! The behavior is different ... they are spending a long time on the feeder, drinking & drinking. The first one I saw this morning had its head down so long drinking, I was beginning to wonder if it was stuck or something, not that I could imagine how that would happen. They are definitely filling their tanks for the migration flight before taking off. There were so many not long ago, we could have used a hummer version of ‘air traffic control’, but now it’s one every couple of hours. I would imagine that by the weekend, except for a migrating straggler stopping by, they’ll all be gone for sure.

I am glad I am still seeing a few ... gradually ‘weaning’ myself off of seeing them so often every day & having them “buzz” me when I am replacing the feeder after a fill up. Cold snap coming this weekend so they are leaving in time to avoid it.

[metmom]

Got a question…..

My Brussel Sprouts have not yet got sprouts. NOTHING on any of them.

What could be causing that?

I do have them covered with netting to keep those danged butterflies off them or the caterpillars decimate, and worse, the crop, but other than that, I can’t think of anything else.

It has been a very wet year, too.

FWIW, my bucket potato crop is fantastic. The onions did not do well and probably won’t store well, but the garlic and potatoes did great.

[MomwithHope]

They are probably migrants and are arriving hungry. You should check out this Webcam in Cslifornia. I check it out in the winter.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pXe8MpU7uzk

[MomwithHope]

I tried some Little Gem lettuce for the first time late summer planting. Just started picking and I really like it. Wider leaves and greener than our usual romaine.

[Qiviut]

I rarely get 2 birds on the same feeder - that’s impressive!

Definitely hungry - I am surprised they can fly with such full bellies!