Raspberries are still coming

The raspberry has started to flower again. Maybe I'll get a second batch of raspberries before it gets too cold.


Peas.

First real rain

We had some showers about a month ago, but this is the first real rain of the year. Reflections of the basil plants in the rain.


I think it's going to be a slow Halloween. It's going to be raining all weekend and maybe into next week.

The Ps


First we have Peppers. Jimmy Nardello and Balecskai pepper are doing well this time of the year. If I had a greenhouse I could keep these pepper growing in a container all year long... maybe. I could try to put them in a pot, protect them from the cold weather and try to re-plant them in the spring. Maybe I'll try that. It would give them a huge headstart in the spring.


Next are the Peas. Still growing well and the snails haven't wreaked havoc yet.


Pumpkins. They aren't as dark orange as the ones at the super market yet. I'm going to keep them on the vine a bit longer, so I can save seeds from them. If they aren't totally ripe the seeds won't be as viable. I got a pumpkin at target that will have to serve as the Halloween pumpkin this year.

Pumpkin and seedlings


Tall Telephone is growing fast.


This is one of the broccoli seedlings I transplanted a few weeks ago.

Peas and pumpkins

The pea seedlings have sprouted. This variety is called Tall Telephone.


I like this photo because it shows the contrast between the older pumpkin and the younger one. Varieties like New England Sugar Pie start out green and mature to orange. Rouge Vif d' Etampes starts light yellow and matures to a dark orange, almost red.

Morning in the garden

I was looking at the garden this morning and realized the pumpkin plant was huge. It's taking over the yard. Cold temperatures will take care of that soon enough. Although it was in the 80's today again. Of course, the larger photo is much better than this tiny thumbnail.

Butterfly on the neighbor's butterfly bush

There were a pair of Gulf Fritillary (Agraulis vanillae) flying and nectar collecting today.

2 weeks until Halloween

I don't think they are getting any bigger at this point.

These still need to get a lot more orange before they are ripe. Look here to see a ripe version.

Pumpkin

It was almost dark by the time I got outside tonight. This photo was taken with the flash.

Enjoying the garden

Lu was having a nice day in the garden while I cleaned up and planted some winter crops. I planted peas, carrots, broccoli and some herbs.


I'm always happy when I find a honey bee enjoying the stuff I planted. There is lots of pollen on this little guy.


One of the Rouge Vif d' Etampes.


The afternoon light was just right to take a still life photo of my harvest. Pomegranates, peepers and cucumbers. It made me feel like painting again.


The tomato still life wasn't as pretty, but I'm just happy to still have good tomatoes to eat.

Starting to color upRouge Vif d' Etampes is a dark reddish-orange pumpkin when it is mature. I noticed today that they seem to be getting a little more orange, but I'm not sure if you can really tell from this photo.

Arrrrr, part II

Photo courtesy of 826 Valencia.

Here is how the story goes: 826 Valencia is a store in San Francisco that started when a guy wanted to start a tutoring school, but the location wasn't zoned for tutoring. It was zoned for retail, so he decided to start selling some stuff too and picked pirate stuff. The pirate stuff took off and now he has a successful pirate store and a tutoring school all in one.

Pumpkin progress

Here's a photo of one of the pumpkins. I like the shadow of the flower blossom on the left side. It rained for the frist time since spring on Friday night. It wasn't a lot of rain, but there were still some droppets on the pumpkin when I took the photo.

Rain and different cosmos

It rained over night and sprinkled a little during the day. Eventually the day was sunny with really pretty clouds. Here are some from the backyard.


I noticed today that I seemed to have two different kinds of cosmos. They are the same color, but the petals are different. This one has very full petals.


The cosmo in the background has the smaller petals with a zig-zaggy edge

Update to front porch potted plant

The Coleus is growing nicely now. It really filled in. See a comparison from the first photo. The light pink one seems to be growing the slowest.

Button. Stay...

Good girl!

Arrrrr

The other day I read an article about the Somalia pirates and thought "Wow! There are still pirates?" Then on Monday, I was having lunch with some friends and there was a man with an eye patch and it make me think of the Somalia pirates. Lisa and I decided we would become pirates. Our first mission would be to take care of the whaling boats. The next day when driving to lunch we passed this Pilates fitness place and it had an R pasted over the L. I laughed so hard I was crying. Several times during the day I would think of the sign and start laughing again. I took my camera to work today and made a special trip to get this photo.


Emily also made a special trip to the Halloween store last night to pick up a pirate eye patch for me. I was the perfect gift. Thanks Emily, I will wear it with pride. Arrrrr