Happy Official Fall! As the Fall equinox passes us by, my (poor neglected wilderness) garden is on it last legs. I’m still pulling some tomatoes here and there, and there is one lone pepper that I’m still coaxing along, but for the most part, the tomato vines are leggy and the herbs have all gone to seed. And the grass is like three feet high in there. And something is burrowing. And I think I could start a maple tree farm with all the seedlings that have taken root.
The garden and I did not enjoy the close personal and loving relationship we usually do this year (blame the baby!), but I’m generally pleased with how it all turned out given I did approximately zero work. That said, some of the more interesting agricultural wonders actually occurred OUTSIDE the garden in Summer 2010.
First off, my black raspberries, which were largely decimated by over zealous bunnies last winter, have apparently tapped in to some underground source of Miracle Grow and are presently trying not only take over the “garden” under our walnut tree, but are attempting to make a break for it and scale my neighbors fence. The up-and-over approach is in addition to the earlier under-and-around approach. Hopefully my neighbors like black raspberries. 
Second, my compost pile is pitiful. It is one of those poorly thought-out black plastic tubes held up by wimpy metal poles. It sucks. This is our third summer in the house and I’ve never turned it. I’m consistently stunned by the fact that we continue to load it up with household scraps, yard clippings, twigs, and other junk, and yet it remains about three feet high. So clearly I’m doing some good composting in there. I was under the impression that the compost pile was where living stuff went to die, but I was proven wrong this summer by an industrious but of leafy lettuce.
Shown here: pitiful compost pile and enterprising lettuce
Coming in last is another yummy volunteer (I LOVE volunteers!). This one said screw all those normal locations to show up uninvited, I’m going to the for the gold. And the gold, in this case, is a potted flower on the patio.
Green bean Interloper
How a green bean bush made it into a potted flower is beyond me, but that did not stop me from the enjoying the fruits (or veggies as it were) of not-my labor.
Yum!
