Succession Plantings

We have been blessed with three good rains in the past week. Even last night, we had another 15 ml.! That, combined with a 19°C temperature, makes for the perfect conditions to do some succession plantings. It was out with the cucumber plants and in with the Mesclun Mix greens this morning.

I still had a full tray of seedlings and a partial tray of larger ones. Now, the greenhouse....

... is ready for the fall season....

... as is the garden. These were transplanted a couple of weeks ago in the heat. I put a floating row cover over them to shade them and had to fertilize them. They are coming along nicely now.

Borage flowers are awaiting the mesclun mix harvest. I love putting a few Borage flowers in each bag of greens. It's a fun and edible surprise. Isn't it amazing how every part of the Borage plant loves to hold on to water?

These beens succeeded the early spring mesclun mix rows. I picked the first ones of this crop on Wednesday.

The third planting of Bull's Blood Beets are looking good. Who knows if we will get enough heat before frost for them to mature? At the very least, their leaves will make a tasty and colourful addition to mixtures of salad greens.

I started picking blueberries in mid-July. This week, I still picked around 2 cups of blueberries. This is the latest variety and still has a couple of cups of blueberries left to mature.

The last fruit crop of the season will be a finicky one. Elderberries. I will pay attention and try and beat the birds to them when they fully ripen. I love pouring a little Elderberry syrup over my yoghurt and fruit and granola on wintery mornings.

I am glad that August is over. It is my least favourite month. I know that we need summers, but my old body doesn't appreciate heat. Gardening is not fun in August.

And, aren't the colours of fall wonderful? Hints of yellows and browns are starting to appear now. I am hoping that frost will hold off for a month or 6 weeks. Then, my succession plantings will have a chance to shine. And, it will be fun to garden again.

“I learned this,

at least,

by my experiment:

that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams,

and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined,

he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.”

Henry David Thoreau