Checking In

Whew, I don’t know how you folks with ‘regular’ jobs do it! I spent an entire week proofreading and going through submissions in a coffee shop instead of at home, and I feel like nothing else got done. Thank goodness for lower temperatures, I guess, or the garden would have withered away into nothingness.

I stayed at home today and really enjoyed all the little tasks I would have found un-noteworthy a week ago. I took a bunch of photos a few days back, hoping to get around to a big garden update, but… I haven’t, yet. The above is what I brought in this afternoon — two cantaloupes, kale, herbs, onions and green onions, carrots, and tomatoes (also broccoli and green beans, not pictured).
I think this is really interesting: the onions had practically died off in the heat of the summer (there was no life above ground, although the roots were still going), but they seem to have entered a ‘new’ year of growth now, so I can enjoy green onion tops for a while now! The downside is that the new growth seems to be fueled by the onions themselves, which have started to go soft (I’m guessing that’s down to conversion to sugar or somesuch).
Oh — there’s also a zucchini in that picture. I tore out most of the dead plants, but left one offshoot which still seemed healthy, and I’ve had a few nice squashes off it recently. My Brandywine plant on the side of the house is covered with huge tomatoes which I’m really hoping will ripen before the frost hits. I brought in the biggest today, since it’s started to turn red (which means it will ripen indoors now). I thought it might be a two-pounder, but no such luck — although I think 1.5 pounds is still a personal record! And to think that I’d given up on this seedling a few months back.

I also used my at-home time to tend to the little plants I keep on my kitchen window-sill. The succulents in the glass jars are doing fantastically well — they must love all the sun they get. The jade was a cutting I rooted in water after Beany, uh, pruned it from the original plant. I’m really pleased with how well it’s recovered!
My Johnny-Jump-Up that keeps going is still going (surprise!), and today I cut off the flowering top (the stem had grown very long and was dying near the bottom) and planted the bottom, which has a mass of roots and a few little baby shoots. I also rearranged a bouquet, pulling out the dead blooms and trimming up the lingering ones.
And now I have to tend to the soup on the stove. Sorry to have abandoned the blog for so long, but I’m glad my being-out-of-the-house has re-energized my housework! Hooray.