Got all my fall crops in just before going on a weeks's vacation, and it the middle of a drought no less. No rain whist we were gone either but everything looked ok after doucing heavily with water before leaving.

Got broccoli, cabbages, carrots, collards, kohlrabi, and white turnips all planted. Hoping that Ophellia comes in like a lamb and at least gives us some needed rains without the stormy part.

Tomatoes still producing but they are smallish due to the dry spell. Pumpkins are sitting out there like orange life rafts for the multitude of squash bugs clinging onto them. Harvested all the winter squashes and stored ok.
You all got anythng still growing?

Summer is still holding on here, yesterday 90s. We also need rain.

Fall lettuce sown, as well as mache. Fall carrots coming along. My fall peas worked out great and are blossoming now. Getting a big harvest from fall pole beans now. Pulled up & cured onions, not as big as last year (when we had a lot of rain) but still pretty big. Leeks still in the ground.

Opalka tomatoes just starting to ripen en masse now. Lots of peppers and chiles turning red. Eggplant seems to be in a lull, lots of blossoms but not much fruit lately. Maybe it was too hot for even eggplant during Aug. Now I will probably have a ton of fruit developing just in time for 1st frost.

I have been too busy to start any greenhouse salad greens yet. Too hot in there anyway. Busy moving perennials as we are having an addition put on house and every time I talk to the contractor he adds another foot of garden I am going to have demolished when the excavator comes Fri. Now we are at 4', which means I need to remove anything worth saving from 80sf of dense perennial garden. Running out of places to put plants, started using raised beds in veg. garden. Anyways, a major garden renovation will also take place next spring and I have decided I will need to scale back on the veg. garden next year. We'll be installing brick paths, renovating soil, etc. I will go crazy if I have as many vegetables to look after while we're doing all this work. Many beds will get planted with alfalfa if they're not in use.

You may get a real soaker.....

Here, I have corn and green beans just about done. Early tomatoes are still producing but second crop starting to ripen a fresh run of maters.

Winter squash worked overtime....about 25 large butternuts [Really Big] variety. Acorns...dozens of those.

Cantaloupes finishing....Sugar Queen was super and so was St. Nick white fleshed.

Watermelons are setting and growing another crop on several plants. Super year here of large and sweet melons.

Broccoli starting to head up. Cauliflower growing.

Sweet potatoes still growing well.

Yellow raspberries doing very well.

Apples are loaded with Galas picked and Jonathons ripening.

(dh having a good time while I stayed home to work in the garden)

Well my fall crops are growing good despite the driest Sept on record here near Richmond. Having to water with well water keeps them going but it's like spitting on a dry sponge out there. The moisture from Katrina, Ophelia, and Rita totally bypassed us with only Rita giving us a sprinkle 2 nites ago (0.01"). For the first time in 3 years living here I can finally see the outline of my septic system's drain field, alternating brown & green strips.

Over the weekend I planted 2 rows of Spinach seed, I have learned here that a late planting of spinach will sprout and then over winter if protected with a light layer of straw. Once March arrives it'll give an extra early and longer lasting harvest than would Spring planted seed which tends to bolt after just 3 weeks of harvesting (in Va Hot Springs). We'll see....

Got down to 41 F last night. But according to the long-term forecast, I think we're in the clear for frost for the next week or so.

Worst year ever for tomatoes. Those Opalkas that I like to grow, that usually keep us supplied in tomato sauce all winter from the harvest of only 2 plants--so far I've only froze one batch of sauce! They just started to ripen end of last month and they've been slow-going. I will have a ton of hard green tomatoes before it's all over. It must have been the cold wet spring that stunted them, I remember back in June that the plants were pretty small compared to other years.

But my peppers did fine. I picked a bunch of Anchos and Nu-Mex that turned red on the vine and dried them. Still lots of green ones to roast, and both green and red Marconis to pick. A ton of jalopenos and serranos.

Fall bush beans petering out. Carrots ready to harvest but will be kept in the ground as needed and brought into cellar before ground freezes.

More fall raspberries than ever (I think I say that every year). I am baking desserts with them and giving them away to make sure they get eaten. Froze and made jam with all that we'll ever eat. Gave the contractor a cobbler fresh out of the oven yesterday.