Still no frost!

It's been a hectic September. This is the latest fall in my living memory. Usually we have our first frost early in September, but here it is October 1 with no frost yet. The overnight low tonight is 1C, though, and comparable lows are forecast for the upcoming week, so it seems likely this weather is here to stay.

I've been busy canning and freezing, picking and sorting, pulling and composting. I got a terrific harvest this year, particularly of tomatoes; but I managed to put up 8quarts of dill pickles and 33 half-pints of salsa (so far, there's definitely more to come). I've also frozen 16lb of beans, about 60lb of zucchini, 5+ gallons of bortsch. The dogs and I are ready for winter!

About a week ago, I noticed the late afternoon light was perfect for photos, so I whipped out my camera. It is such a blessing to still have flowers and produce this late in the year! But, I didn't have a chance to download until this evening. These are probably the last photos of my garden from 2009, so enjoy!

Fertilizer Friday ~ Flaunting those September Flowers!

It's Fertilizer Friday! Time to fertilizer our plants indoors and out, and post pictures of what's growing for us. This meme is hosted by Tootsie Time - make sure you stop by to link in, or to find links to other participants.

It has been hot here all week - we've finally gotten summer weather right when fall is starting. Some of my plants look a little limp from the heat, but they're doing just fine.

I actually have some never-before seen blooms this week - yay! My morning glories, sweet peas, and sunflowers have all started blooming just within the last week or so.

Pretty purple and white morning glories

Here you can see how they're growing up my sunflower stalks

This variety has been self seeding since 2006. They pop up wherever they feel like it.

More morning glories, white this time

A few lovely deep pink/burgundy sweet peas

Told ya it was hot! Sun beating down on the sunflowers

Many sunflower pictures to follow

You can see how lush the veggies all got by the end of the summer

Beans still for the picking

Snapdragons looking limp, but they have filled in nicely and are just starting another round of blooms

That's what's happening at the School of Yard Knocks this hot September afternoon. What's going on in your garden today?

Fertilizer Friday - Flaunt those ... Veggies?

It's Fertilizer Friday! Time to fertilizer our plants indoors and out, and post pictures of what's growing for us. This meme is hosted by Tootsie Time - make sure you stop by to link in, or to find links to other participants.

I don't have very much that is new this week. Most everything I featured last week is still going strong. One thing that I didn't include last week was one of my barrels of geraniums, and those are the only blooms I'm flaunting this week.




I am, however, flaunting some vegetables. With the exception of my regularly-sized tomatoes (which are still a frustrating shade of green), my veggies are doing well and I've been enjoying their abundance for a few weeks now.

Make sure you stop by Tootsie Time to check out all the beautiful gardens and let us know how your own blooms and growing things are doing.

Harvest on the Table ~ First Tomato of the Season

The first tomato of the season is alway a delight. How best to enjoy it? Straight off the vine, eaten like an apple? In a sandwich? And, if so, which sandwich? While a BLT is always a good choice, my personal favourite for fresh garden tomatoes is on whole wheat toast with mayo, homemade dill pickles, and cheddar cheese. Or, perhaps in a salad, perhaps a Greek salad; or more simply, the tomato with feta and oregano tossed with olive oil and red wine vinegar?

In the end, I decided to have it on a cracker with a smudge of cream cheese. A cherry tomato only goes so far anyway ;-)

Fertilizer Friday

It's Fertilizer Friday, folks - time to fertilizer our plants indoors and out, and post pictures of what's growing in our little corner of the world today. This meme is hosted by Tootsie Time - make sure you stop by to link in, or to find links to other participants.

I missed the last two Fertilizer Fridays :-( My niece got married on August 8th and I took a trip to Temple Gardens in Moose Jaw the following week. Altho' I got home in time to take pictures, the weather was not cooperating. We had major rainstorms here last weekend. I am behind in most things gardening. I did, however, make about 4 gallons of bortsch last weekend, which I froze in small containers for the winter. My beets and other veggies came in handy for that!

But I snapped some pictures on my lunch break today and this Fertilizer Friday, I am ready to flaunt:

Stargazer lilies, purchased at an end-of-season perennial sale

Finally, some ripe tomatoes (sweet millions)! I was watching and watching this one little tomato - I actually blogged it weeks ago because it was the first one to form. It was turning ever so slowly. I got home from Moose Jaw and it was gone! I'm pretty sure it was my petsitter, hahahahahaha (love you anyway Miss Michelle!).

An angel tucked in behind some raspberries and my new Therese Bugnet rugosa.

Begonias are still going strong.

One of the hanging baskets on my deck.

Scarlet runner beans in my herb bed.

Kentucky wonder pole beans climbed all the way up my handstrung trellis and then some. The bush beans in front are the royal burgundy ones.

Other side of the pole bean trellis.

Marigolds are still going strong too.

My sunflowers are a bit of a surprise - much much taller than expected but very pretty. Not too many blooms open yet.

A supermacro shot of a borage flower. The bees love these!

Himalayan impatiens in front of two barrels with wave petunias.

And a different view of the barrels/Himalayan impatiens:

What's happening with your plants today?

Welcome to my garden Therese Bugnet!

Gardens West magazine mentioned the Therese Bugnet rugosa a few times this year. It sounds heavenly - it should develop into a shrub that can reach 6' in height. AND, most importantly, it is Zone 2 hardy. I've been keeping my eyes open for these all summer. This past weekend, I was looking for a wedding gift and visited the garden centre that I purchased all the gravel and topsoil from last summer, for my raised veggie beds. They have a 1% cash back bonus. I just happened to have a coupon for $21.96 in my wallet, and low and behold there was my rugosa for $24.99. Almost free!

I have high hopes for Ms Therese.

Harvest on the Table ~ Royal Burgandy Beans and Mushrooms Sauteed in Garlic

I have a confession to make. I don't like beans. They were a staple of our diet when I was growing up and I guess I just ate my fill about 20 years ago or so. I planted them this year with plans to use them in the homecooked dog food I make. (Last year, I froze about 100lb of zucchini from my garden for dog food and hope to do the same this year in addition to the beans).

My sister was over a few weeks ago and suggested I try cooking the beans differently. I took her advice and wow! They were really good. I started by sauteing a minced clove of garlic in olive oil, throwing in 2c of sliced fresh mushrooms, and after those started to create steam, 1-1/4c fresh royal burgany beans from my garden.

I cooked them all over med-high heat until the beans were tender.

As promised on the seed package, the beans turned green as they cooked. I seasoned to taste with fresh ground pepper, seasoned salt, and lemon pepper. They didn't even taste like beans. So, unfortunately, I can't tell you if the royal burgandy beans taste different from regular green beans, hahaha. But, they were yummy!

Do you have a good green bean recipe to share?

Fertilizer Friday ~ Flaunt your Flowers!

It's Fertilizer Friday, folks - time to fertilizer our plants indoors and out, and post pictures of what's growing in our little corner of the world today. This meme is hosted by Tootsie Time - make sure you stop by to link in, or to find links to other participants.

I still have a lot going on in my garden - too much, actually, in the case of weeds! Most of what I'm going to share today has already been "featured" on past Fertilizer Fridays, but, hey, if it's all still growing and blooming. So without further ado, a selection of snapdragons:

I just love this colour combo - I haven't seen a snapdragon with it before.

Borage

A shot of my herb bed - it is really flourishing. I hope the trellis will continue to fill in with scarlet runner beans, but they are already blooming, as you can see in the next photo.

A sort of panorama shot of my veggie beds

Kentucky wonder pole beans working their way up the trellis. Not too many blooms or baby beans yet.

And, my first zucchini of pickable size.

I'm off to Tootsie's to check out the other gardens. Thanks for visiting today!