A change up in the garden

Signs of late summer: Crepe Myrtle in bloom against a green tree and an aloe plectilis (I think?) that is surviving in cramped quarters for years. A bit cooler today and I got a very early start so it was still foggy this morning when I looked outside. May only get up to 83 today compared to 89 yesterday, yay!

 I finally decided after seeing how many dead squash there were due to not being pollinated and the fact the vine was hitting the sidewall and turning, making problems for the fruit to lay straight, I cut it back and ripped it out.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There were three ready to harvest and the rest were either shriveled or just flowering... very productive vine, I just don't have the room for it to grow properly.

 

I got the cultivator out and dug around, pulled out the base after cutting the plant into about four pieces. Yes, the soil does and was relatively moist but there were still some dry spots around the poblano on the left, so digging and watering happened.

The next major chore is dumping out the compost buckets and working those leaves in. I might have to use the crate and maybe find a tarp somewhere. I was concerned that some enterprising animal would come by during the night to dig up the fresh soil but no signs of that this morning, will see over the next few days what happens. 

I counted no less than 15 tomatillos between all four plants! Woohooo! They must have heard my threat of yanking them out if they didn't produce. I counted and took pictures of all 15 or16 of them because it was so great to see them finally producing. Change in weather? Threats? Pollinators? All of the above? Some of those are not in places I would have pollinated so I guess the winged pollinators are doing their job now. Biggest one is about an inch and the smallest are about pea size. Wooohooo! ::happy dance::

Since the tomatillos are all different stages I may only have three or four at a time that are ready to harvest. I don't know how long they can keep but from what I remember it's at least a week or two so here's hoping I get some salsa out of those. Not sure what the purple ones are going to look like roasted and blendered. Will have pictures of course when that happens, may have to mix in some green ones from the store. Cannot wait! I made a great salsa verde way back.

The onions are not looking like they're building bulb diameter much, that worries me because the front one I know I've kind of broken some of the leaves and that may have signaled it to stop growing. Hard to say but won't be pulling them at least for another month.

Still no sign of Manny today, he's hiding out really well this time.