Garden Update September 19, 2013

 Hey everyone! I know it has been a little while since I updated. I have been running like crazy since school started. It has been a full 6 weeks, with school and work along with a baby shower, traveling for a death in the family, making a wedding cake, and so much more.  My life is full of blessings and I am thankful to wake up and experience each new day.

 I finally had a chance to work out in the garden over the last couple of days without getting mauled by mosquitos. It has been lovely.

I started these seeds about 4 weeks ago. They started off with root rot, but they finally dried out and they seem to be doing really well now. Now that they have their first set of 'true' leaves I can put them in the garden. I actually planted half yesterday evening and finished putting in the rest after I got home from work today.

I planted Kale...

Mustard Greens...

Arugula...

and Cabbage :). 

Hopefully they will mature before the first frost so I can have greens all winter!

 I took out all the basil and tomato plants to make room for all my greens. I am happy to report that we still got about 30 tomatoes, 30 tomatillos, and about 50 cucumbers throughout the summer. So, it was definitely worth the $7.50 in seeds that I bought. I know that once I get a garden spot with more sun my plants will be even more productive. 

I planted a small patch of arugula 6 weeks ago that is doing really well. After I cut down the basil plants,  I cut off the tops of the rest of my green onion plants and used them to mulch the bed. Hopefully this will keep the caterpillars from munching on my new green seedlings. 

My habanero plant finally started producing peppers. Hopefully they will all turn red before it gets too cold. 

I am leaving my thai basil plant that has gone to seed as a food source for the bees. It also looks really pretty with the purple flower stalks and white flowers!

An extra tomatillo plant with lots of flowers for more bee food :).

My 3 okra plants are taller than me now. When we harvest regularly we can get 10-15 okra pods every 3 days. It is very productive, and Chris and both love eating okra. It has definitely slowed down since the weather is cooling off, but maybe we can get a few more harvests yet.

I am letting this big okra stay on the plant to dry out to save seed for next year. 

Stevia. I recently harvested a lot and will harvest again before the first frost. I read that it gets sweeter when the weather cools down, so I am waiting for that to happen. 

A little tiny okra plant that never got enough sun. Poor little plant got shadowed out. 

Close up of arugula. 

Lettuce that I planted 1 week ago. They also had root rot when they were first sprouting. AH! I even got soil from garden and made sure it wasn't too wet. I hope I can figure out what to do next year to prevent this problem. But, it seems like they are surviving and hopefully their growth won't be stunted too much.

Stevia drying. 

Yesterday's harvest. I also harvested 3 big okras to let them dry out inside as a backup in case something happens to the okra drying on the plant outside. 

So, those are some pictures of what is going on in my garden right now. Next on the to do list is to repot some aloe that has grown more pups and dig up the aloe in the garden before the first frost.

We are going out of town for a wedding this weekend so I have to go now and take Bowdon to the kennel for boarding. Thanks for reading and I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!!