It’s pumpkin time, and there is a tsunami of pumpkin this and pumpkin that everywhere! I am not a big fan of pumpkin spice or even pumpkin pie (which seems somehow un-American). But I do love all the winter squashes that are currently in the market. Unfortunately my own garden environment is too cool in the summer to grow them.
But that doesn’t mean that there aren’t other things growing in the garden. I’m still harvesting lettuce, arugula, chard, cilantro, parsley, Lacinato kale (or cavolo nero or Tuscan Kale), beets, and carrots. This month I seeded more kale, chard, cilantro, carrots (the small round Parisienne variety), arugula and several varieties of lettuce. The weather has cooled so growth will slow but, since we rarely get any frost, they should flourish with our winter rain.
Raised bed vegetable garden – Fort Bragg, CA
The baskets are to keep the birds from eating the seedlings, to discourage marauding night creatures from digging for worms (the skunks can come in under the gate…we have captured them on our night camera), and to prevent our cat from using the beds as a litter box.
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- Latino Kale
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- Carrots and beets
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- Arugula
The artichoke plants completely died back during the summer and I thought they hadn’t survived. In fact I started to dig them out and then was surprised to see new shoots at the base of a stem; I added compost and mulch to see what would happen. Here they are now in early autumn, with luck I will have artichokes in the spring.
Artichokes – October 2019
The redwood trees surrounding us make gardening a bit of a pain. The redwoods roots are very aggressive in searching out any water, they love the rich damp soil in my raised beds and come up through the wire mesh in the bottom. Once all the plants in a bed are finished, I have to dig out the roots and add new soil (otherwise the roots would completely fill the beds). It’s a lot of hard work because there are a lot of roots, about half the soil is gone and needs to be replaced. It’s the price of being surrounded my such majestic beauty.
This time of year the color green takes over as many flowering plants are not at their best. Here is a view of the back perennial bed.
Western cottage garden – Back bed Fort Bragg, CA October 2019
And here it was at the same time last year.
View to the back of the house, October 2018 Fort Bragg, CA
The garden has changed!
Much to the delight of the resident hummingbirds, the salvias and cupheas are still in full bloom. They will keep providing nectar throughout most of the winter. From those birds I have been able to identify (they are rarely still), we have Allen’s hummingbirds. They usually leave in mid-winter to migrate and then show up again in the early spring. I would love to attract some Anna’s (who stick around all year) but haven’t seen any so far. The Allens are quite aggressive in defending their territory.
Salvia ‘Amistad’, in back Salvia greggii (I am not sure of the variety but it is lovely salmon color)
Salvia elegans also called ‘Pineapple Sage’ this one is especially loved by the hummingbirds
Cuphea – Candy Corn Plant (appropriate for October)
The pollinator meadow is greening and showing millions of baby seedlings.
Pollinator meadow (2019), mowed but millions of baby seedlings starting from the seeds
Meadow- soil improved by ton of new soil and compost – October 2018
Everything survived while we were away in Scotland last month, this month is busy as we leave for the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland tomorrow and will be gone again. Thank goodness for a wonderful house/garden/dog/cat sitter. I am not sure what we will do when she goes back to work early next year.