Monday, September 29, 2008

It's 88 degrees here...

...but the tell-tale signs of fall have begun to appear.
The maple tree leaves are turning:

Other trees are beginning to lose their leaves:

and those nasty Boxelder Bugs are back:

They cause no damage, but anything that swarms about my head as I walk by tends to freak me out a bit:

Oregon is known for summer weather that can extend sometimes into October. My garden is loving this.

I can smell the grapes now when I pass by:

The pears are ripening:

...and the (from left to right) cucumber, lemon cucumbers and birdhouse gourds are going strong:

I grew the birdhouse gourd plants as a fun experiment and they clearly like it here. This plant is growing up into the apple tree:

Tender zucchini is ready for the picking:

and the yellow squash is growing like mad:

These are another garden first for me:

...which is why I am concerned and confused that some of the yellow squash appear to be molding on the vine:

The red bell pepper plant is still producing. The peppers are quite small but delicious:

All my fussing about not having any ripe tomatoes has ceased. We're getting delicious La Roma and Yellow Boy tomatoes:

And we'll be swimming in cherry tomatoes soon:

So, even though fall officially started a week ago, summer in Oregon continues...

The bees are still doing their thing:

The donkeys are still running:

and when they're not running, they're wrestling:

and when they're not wrestling, they're playing ball:

The chickens are still free-ranging in the sun:

And farmgirl Roxy still gets to hang her head out the window when we go for a ride:

27 comments:

  1. The mould is probably caused by too high humidity. Try removing a few leaves from the plant to allow the air to circulate.

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  2. Those photos are great. I love the one of the donkeys playing ball and your garden pictures. I wish I would have grown gourds this year. They look amazing. Our tomatoes are now finally producing a lot. It is really a late season isn't it?

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  3. I see the grapes are beginning to ripen....I still had a little while...I could have stayed longer.

    Look at Ian...out there getting in on all the fun...runnin and wrestlin.
    Sigh.

    Your garden looks fantastic. I love the gourds...lets see...drying for about 6 mos...this means I can expect a beautifully painted birdhouse gourd in my mailbox, by say, Springtime.

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  4. My yellow squash is doing the same thing so I'll try what solomon says. And finally the tomatoes are ripening. Love this weather!!!
    When I saw your last post I got all excited. I thought Critter Farm had a goat.

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  5. I love getting updates from you. It is fun to see your place through your eyes. What the heck are lemon cucumbers?
    I miss having gardens. There was a time when I had a vegetable garden nearly year round, 7 flower gardens, 15 rose bushes and various fruit trees, five cats and 8 retired horses to care for. Now I have a paved parking lot on one side and a brick wall of a store on the other...yucko. So you can see why I like to hear of your place.

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  6. That was a wonderful break from the news coming out of Washington DC. Looking at your photos and blog entry today brought on a sense of relaxation for me, like a walk in the woods. Thank you. Dianne R.

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  7. I am so envious, just look at that nice rich soil. Looks like everyone is enjoying the hot weather. So are you planing on making wine with those grapes?

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  8. Wow your garden looks good. I am jealous that you have those bird house gourds. Great Pics!!!

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  9. Oregon sure likes showing her stuff in September. This is why it's my favorite month!!!

    I love your pics.

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  10. I am envious of those red peppers! They are beautiful Danni. Sometimes my summer squash does that moulding thing. I just remove them when I see it happening so that it won't spread to the other squashes. Could be the humidity like someone said earlier. I love that you have fruit trees and grape vines. Your property is so wonderful. I really hope I can travel to Oregon to visit you someday.

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  11. Glad to see you are getting some tomatoes. I just picked another big harvest and dug all my potatoes. The veggie garden is definitely starting to look tired now.

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  12. I just found your blog, went through it yesterday. I love it! I'm planning to do the same thing, I've already started buying manuals and we are collecting pictures of our dream things on the walls of our current apartment. It feels so good to see that others have already realised their dreams, it comforts me to know that I'm not dreaming of impossible things. All the best to you, I'll be watching you!

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  13. I LOVE Fall in the Pacific NW! :) Your garden has almost inspired me to give one a try next year....I'll be sure and put it on my list! :) Those Box Elder bugs are VERY creepy to me...I don't know if they bite or not but they look like they might.... I love also how all the animals seem to get "revved up" with the cooling air. Thanks for the great pics!!

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  14. Yes, what are lemon cucumbers? I've never heard of that before.

    Our tomatoes are finished now--darn potato beetles got most of them.

    Fall in the Pacific NW must be wonderful! I never knew it was so perfect.

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  15. Everything looks fantastic Danni! You're going to love turning the gourds into houses! I've done it once...it's not hard at all! I think Roxy needs a pair of goggles so she can look as cool as she really is!!

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  16. Wow...your summer does seem to be going on. Love the ripe tomatoes!!!

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  17. Things ripen late there don't they? I wouldn't like those bugs flying around my head either. Yuck. I'm not quite ready for fall but it seems to be here. Things have cooled off considerably here.

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  18. Your veggies look beautiful, well not the moldy one. Mold happens.
    We need that warmth here.
    Your hot blonde passenger needs a scarf to hold her do in place.

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  19. Lovely pics, Danni. You don't even want to see what my poor garden looks like at this time of year! :)

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  20. Kinda sounds like heaven. Except for the bugs...eeeeewwwww! Although, up close, they're quite pretty. Nevertheless...

    You have grapes! That's so awesome and I roma tomatoes are my favourite.

    I adore Roxy and your donkeys. You could post nothing but photos of them and I'd be perfectly happy.

    Have a great day and enjoy your marvelous harvest.
    Carolynn

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  21. We have moldy zucchini babies, too. Perhaps the big leaves are keeping the moisture in too much. Your garden is still humming, though. Mine is preparing for a long rest, except for two types of winter spinach which is already 5" tall. Hopefully we'll enjoy (and share) this lovely dark green stuff all winter.

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  22. Life is good. Thanks for sharing.:)

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  23. Hi solomon - great advice, thanks - I will give it a shot! I hope it's not too late.

    Hi egghead - I'm definitely going to have more gourds than I know what to do with. Want me to send you some? :-)

    Hi frugalmom - I have to figure out what types of grapes these are - they aren't "starting to ripen" - they *are* ripe. They apparently don't turn dark purple...they are soooo fragrant and taste like sweet grape candy! And what...not only do you demand a gourd, you're expecting it to be beautifully painted, too? Get over here and do it yourself, woman!

    Hey goatgirl - Be sure to let me know how your squash does - I'll keep you posted on mine. Don't tell anybody, but I'm totally getting the little goat urges again. Jim says "no way", but he said "no" about roosters, too.... :-) :-)

    Hi pat - Here's a link that talks about lemon cucumbers: http://www.tradewindsfruit.com/vegetables/lemon_cucumber.htm. While I've had fun growing them, I found the skins on mine to be a bit on the thick side, not sure if that's a result of something I've done wrong or not. Some people swear these are their favorite cucumbers!!

    Hello anonymous - dianne ...very nice to hear from you. Any time you need figurative "walk in the woods at danni's", you just let me know, and I'll send you one. Or, you could just get in your car and drive out here and do it for real. It'd be really nice to see you. :-)

    Howdy greywolf: Wine was the plan, but I'm not sure who the wine maker will be. I'll keep you posted on that. :-)

    Hi countrygirl - thanks for the compliments! Have you done anything with gourds before?

    Hi heather - I hear a lot of Oregonian's proclaim September to be their favorite. We live in a special place, don't we?

    Hey farmer jen - I forgot to post the pics of my apple trees, but my apples are ripening nicely, too. I wish I knew how to ID what variety of apple, pear and grapes I've got. It's difficult!

    Hi nw nature nut - I'll have one more potato digging session and then my potatoes will be done. Were you able to put away very many? We have not - we eat what I dig. Always and every time.

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  25. Hi em - thanks for commenting! Your preparation sounds very similar to what mine was a little over a year ago....keep making those plans, reading those books, and thinking your good thoughts. Your dream will totally come true. A year ago today, we hadn't even put our house on the market yet (or made an offer on the farm house we're living in now!) I had no chickens, no donkeys, just a city life that was making me terribly unhappy What a difference a year makes!!

    Hi wrensong farm - you don't have boxelder bugs up there, huh? Lucky.
    Your place would be a lovely spot for a garden - as long as you can keep all your sweet critters out! From the pictures I've seen, it looks like you get a lot of good sun.

    Hey pamela - See my response to Pat above on the lemon cucumbers - they're fascinating and fun to grow. I've been lucky this year - I didn't seem to have too many creepy crawlies on my plants and certainly none that devastated my crop. Sorry about your tomatoes :-(

    Hi eve - The whole reason I'm growing these birdhouse gourds is because of YOU. You are going to teach me what to do with them once they're done growing, right? LOL. I'm going to have a LOT. Have you seen those goggles they make for dogs? They're called "doggles" (of course): http://www.doggles.com.au/images/doggles_ils/ils_bike.jpg (I can totally see these on Daisy Lu!!)

    Hi judy - I know...finally! Ripe tomatoes...yummmm

    Hey Christy - Things don't generally ripen late, we just had a crap start to our spring...everything was delayed a bit.

    Yo sugarcreekstuff - it's cloudy here today, so I think I sent that warm weather your way - you did want it, right? Roxy would look AWESOME in a long, trailing, silk scarf...

    Hi farm mom - Remember, I'm a selective photographer. I'm sure parts of my garden look very similar to whatever parts of your garden you don't want to show me. I've had real troubles with weed control this year.

    Hi carolynn - Way to look on the bright side about my bugs! lol. And my romas....Mmmmm...they are so sweet and perfect and don't drip everywhere - they are perfect!
    Only pictures of my Roxy and the donkeys? Be careful what you wish for. I'd totally be into that, too! :-)

    Hey zitrone-momma - Did you get any zucchini at all? I haven't gotten my spinach in yet - I hope it's not too late.

    Hi cee cee - :-) :-) :-)

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  26. Do you have a Sunset Western Garden Book? They have good charts in there for identifying types of apples, pears etc. I studied the articles and charts in that book when I was buying new trees and trying to identify the old ones that were already here when I bought the property.

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  27. Those photos are all very nice, but where is that cute goat with the 'fab' ears???

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