Six on Saturday-9/15/18

  There’s a misty fog over the potager this morning, reminiscent of visits to the Smokey Mountains.  The grass is so heavy with dew that my pant legs are soaked before arriving at the gate.  Today is mid-point for September.  Already!  And autumn is definitely in the air.   There are things to notice on this chilly morning.  1)  The front sidewalk is finally edged again, for the first time since May!  It looks so pretty when it’s done that I always vow to do it more often, but……. 2) The asparagus has a silvery sheen that is almost ghost-like.    Doesn’t it turn gold in fall?  The color is not from the dew, but it’s definitely very pale.  I hope it’s not dying!  3)  The “Orange Magic” squash are finally turning orange.  There are only 3 on the vine, whose blossoms seem to be a magnet for the spotted cucumber beetles more than any of the other squash varieties in the potager.  The flowers  barely begin to open before they are filled with the voracious insects that destroy the petals. 4) At the other end of the spectrum, here’s the “Delicata” squash, whose flowers never show any damage, and I’ve never found a bug on them.  Interesting.    They are beautiful blooms.  5)  Earlier this week, I did a quick look at the seed box and found partial packets of “Avon,” “Olympia,” and “Gangbuster” spinach left from spring plantings.  Spinach seed quickly loses its viability, so there’s no reason to save it for next year.  Might as well gamble on a crop now, so I harvested the last of the beets from this bed and planted two rows here    and four more rows in another.  We don’t really need that much spinach, if it germinates and grows before it snows, but I’ll cover this bed with a polytunnel and see what happens.  It could provide an early crop next spring, so I was careful to place it properly on next year’s plan.  Yes, the basics of the 2019 potager map are already in place, because it will soon be time to plant garlic.  Last autumn my planning for crops under a poly tunnel was pathetic!  And, the plan was something productive to do during all those rainy days.  6)  Viewing the potager, I realized that once again I failed to spend moments in my lovely green chairs over the season.  It’s hard for me to just sit still, and there’s no place to put them in the shade which would certainly make sitting more appealing.  However, now that autumn has arrived and the demands of the potager are lessening, I think I’ll find more time to just sit and enjoy.  I hope you do the same, wherever you garden!

That’s my six for this Saturday in mid-September.  Thanks to The Propagator who hosts this meme.  Click on the link to see what “Six” other gardeners around the world have chosen.

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