Potatoes 2021

 We got the potatoes in late this year, and they just weren't dying down until FINALLY we got a light frost over the weekend. With heavy rain supposedly coming tomorrow, that meant yesterday and today were our days to get them in. So we did! I did most of the digging, but Matt came out for bits of time as he was able, and Owen put in a good hour in the afternoon after school as well. And these two girls (and Rinnah, too) were tireless, not only with the fun task of pulling up the potatoes (we got some amazing potatoes after what did not appear to be a promising year) but also with the not so fun job of pulling up weeds ahead of my digging so I could see what I was doing.

Fall produce

 Pulling in the last bits before the first freeze!

(All photos, except the first one, courtesy of Leah.)

Zinnias

 Rinnah and I carefully planted the whole end of the fenced in area with lettuce, beets, carrots and planted a row of zinnias as a divider between each one. Well, with the lack of rain (and lack of watering on our part), none of it came up except for the zinnias, and they are gorgeous! They definitely grew big enough to cover the weeds and empty dirt where the other things were supposed to be!

Tomatoes

 While we certainly haven't been as invested in the veggie garden this year as last, we're still doing a decent job of keeping up and getting a quite decent yield.

Here are Dad and Evania picking tomatoes from the annex on the west end of the veggie garden where we put all of the volunteer plants that we found in the spring! They filled the entire turkey roasting pan with cherry tomatoes!!

Gladiolus

 Matt diligently watered our gladiolus bulbs during the drought, and we've been rewarded over the last few weeks with a steady and copious stream of beautiful flowers.

Here Evania's showing off just a small sampling. We're bringing in this many almost every day!

Spring again?

 While the drought has not been AS severe here as it's been in the more western parts of the country, we have definitely felt its effects. Last week we finally got some real rain, and as a result, my bridal veil bush is blooming again, and I have daffodils coming up!

There should NOT be daffodils coming up in early September. Sorry.

Green Beans

 This year's garden may not be as spectacular as last year's, but we've still got some decent produce, including really cool asparagus beans! I had forgotten to tell the girls I'd planted them, so when they discovered them in the garden today, they were *really* impressed!

Blueberry wall progress

 

Also known as "killing two birds with one stone." Ebby and I are toilet training and building a limestone retaining wall at the same time. He's actually a decent help - bringing his little wheelbarrow along to load rocks, and the little blue wagon when we need dirt. In the meantime, if there's an accident, no problem! The ground could use a little moisture!!!

A new wall by the blueberries

 We're always looking for ways to tidy up the yard and make the best use of what we have, and decided that a little low wall along the south side of the (enlarged) blueberry patch would be useful in a variety of ways. We *still* have leftover limestone from years ago when we dug it out from the neighbors, and though it's not a lot of nice big pieces any more, there's enough for a 3-4 course high wall. It will keep the mulch from sliding down, and give a nice edge to that garden.

Here's Matt measuring out where we want the edge to be so he can dig a solid, level foundation!

Gloria and the sedum

 My little helper's hands are getting strong enough to use the clippers to dead head the big sedum in the front garden! It's a great project to tackle a little bit at a time while waiting for the boys to come home on the school bus.

It's spring!

 All over the yard things are popping up and greening up...won't be long!