October Garden Journal 2017

Aaah, the glory. The pride. Two decent looking heads of cauliflower. Does it get any better?

Ah, the destruction. The evil little birds that eat my spinach and broccoli. The pain. The suffering. I planted as much as I could of everything. Something has to make it. 

Meet my new love, chirimen hakusai. It's a loose-leaf napa cabbage. It's beautiful. I don't think the pictures do it justice. Whenever I need some I can pick the outer leaves instead of anxiously hoping the head develops soon and I can eat it before the caterpillars do. Victory!

These are darling little French bush beans. They are cute and prolific, just like bunnies. 

I don't know why I planted mini eggplants again. There's nothing wrong with them, they're just small. It has taken until almost the end of October for the plants to look like the monsters you see in pictures taken by real gardeners. Maybe I should start my eggplants, peppers, etc earlier next year. I think I started them in March... I'll just back it up to January next year.

​Swiss chard never made anyone happier. It's so bright and cheery! But I planted it last spring and they never really took off until fall. Better late than never.

The peppers took forever, just like the eggplant. I had exactly two peppers off of all three purple pepper plants, and then I debated pulling them out. I'm glad I waited, because each plant is growing five to seven peppers now. It took FOREVER!

On the left is Purple Sprouting Broccoli and Romanesco I planted at the end of September, and on the right is Calabrese broccoli I planted at the beginning of September. Neither have been discovered by aphids or birds... YET. 

The cabbage on the left and the cauliflower on the right have have aphids. It's a sad world. I sprinkled diatomaceous earth on all of them and I'm hoping for the best. Worst case scenario it'll all be chicken food. 

Two charentais melons, and I have no idea when to pick them. Yarrow is growing to the left. It is a superhero herb that stops bleeding immediately. I will grow it forever since I frequently cut chunks out of my fingers with a dull knife. To the right is kale, which has mysteriously NOT been discovered by the aphids. But why not? Google have me no answers.

Under the cosmos are potatoes, but the flowers are so pretty I guess I don't care anymore. Happy fall gardening!