Garden 2024

82° yesterday and 85° today :) It hasn't rained in over 7 weeks now, well two days that added up to .25", so after ~100" in 15 months we've gone desert dry. I've been watering so the garden just keeps producing although the raspberries are just dying off. I'm still pulling a couple of strawberries a day, tomatoes are still ripening and flowering putting on new ones! The Sungold and jewel tomatoes are going crazy but aren't as sweet, I don't think my well water is playing well with them. Attachment 502655

Strawberries in late October? Wild stuff.

I grew a (tiny) watermelon. Hope it's edible.

French press for scale

Attachment 502663

The average size of this year's canteloupes is about the same as an average tomato. Small fist, if that. Tasty but damn is it disappointing to see such tiny fruit. I can eat a giant canteloupe in one go, and I grumble if I have to share it. I have to go through 4 or 5 of the little guys before I feel content.

This is crazy at the end of October Attachment 503091Attachment 503092 I got 2 beautiful Beefsteaks yesterday and had a dozen or so super sweet, naturally refrigerated strawberries this morning :)

Impressive. While the hard frosts haven’t yet hit, we are solidly stuck in single digit temps (C). With the cloud and rain, even the greenhouse is largely done. Just some greens, carrots, and beets still in the ground.

That said, the mushroom harvest this past couple weeks has been all-time! Lobsters and matsutake all over, in places I’ve never found them before.

I even got a few wonderfully sweet raspberries a few minutes ago. It hasn't rained here in 7 weeks now so I'm watering every day and sometimes twice on the hanging plants because they dry out so quickly. My zeriscape in the driveway is thriving, I water it about once a week and it's loving it :) The prickly pear cactus is still spreading like it doesn't know it's just about November! I'm ok with this. haha

Things are pretty much done 'round here. I may get a couple more small zukes and a few more 'maters, but by Wednesday the *real* cold and snow shows up and shuts the door.

This is crazy. Peppers still flowering with some ripening, berries are strong and the tomatoes are flowering and think it's May but the leaves are changing to yellow. I'm glad I left the leaves and didn't trim them back to just fruit.Attachment 503472