For a few weeks, it was this:

after this:

after this:

after this:

Then it got cooler and the aphids moved in, and things looked a little less happy.

The dahlias finally bloomed, though, adding a nice fall surprise.

I’ve tried to plant for a fall crop as well, radishes, spinach, mache, chard, broccoli, and brussels sprouts, with some sprouts coming up.  Other than the radishes, though, it’s all a bit small and I’m not sure if I’ll get much.

There’s still a few cucumbers holding on, so I haven’t pulled that out yet, but I with the freezing temperatures coming next week that’ll have to go, too.

I was hoping to leave the beans to dry on the vine, but I’m not sure how that’ll do with the freeze.  I may have to dry them in the oven instead.

All in all, I was pretty happy with how everything turned out considering that I have no real idea what I’m doing.

Things I learned this year:

1) I am the major consumer of tomatoes in this household.  The girl only eats the small ones fresh off the plant.  The boy only eats the “big juuuuuicy red” ones.  Eric hates tomatoes.  There were days I ate a LOT of tomatoes. I never had enough to can, and, let’s be real here–I’ll never can anything.  (I did find them useful to barter.  I got a few delicious acorn squash for a bag of tomatoes–I clearly got the better end of that deal.) So next year, maybe not 3 tomato plants and definitely not the grape yellows.  Those were blah. Oh! There was what I’m calling a Darwin tomato in the backyard that sprouted from seed dropped from last year’s plant.  No water, fertilizer, anything, and it still grew.  I’m planting those seeds next year.

2)  I need new topsoil.  Next year, we are borrowing a truck and getting better dirt. This is one of the reasons I’m not planting a cover crop since I’m hoping to get largely new dirt next year anyway.

3)Peas.  I’m planting a LOT more peas.  They were very tasty.

4)I might give squash another year, but if I plant squash one more year to yield 2 tiny little fruits, it’s sayonara.

5)Who knew that the boy would love swiss chard so much?

6)Sad, but true: the pesto from Costco tastes better than the fresh pesto made from homegrown basil.

Anyway.  We’ll see if we get any fall/winter veggies, but I doubt it.

And now, for a few cute pictures of the girl because it’s been a while.