I love the late summer look of this country, my garden, my yard and the surrounding area. Lush, green, mature, full of life. So I took a stroll yesterday to capture some of it so I could share the effulgence and ripeness of this season.
The picture below is the garden, looking southwest. The sweet corn is evident, and the pole beans. In front of the beans are a mixture of bush beans and potatoes. And in front of that, partially obscured by the shade of the peach tree is winter squash.
Summer squash is in the foreground here, flowering cosmos, pole beans, sweet corn and tomatoes evident in their "rooms."
Below is a glimpse of the abundant broccoli and cauliflower of this year, winter shelling beans in the foreground. You can see the tomato ladders 'way in the background.
More broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage as well as lots of radicchio and kohlrabi. The red is orach, a really tasty salad ingredient now going seed (it self-seeds beautifully.)
A shot of the elderberry bushes which are just loaded with black fruit.
The upper orchard with vineyard in back.
The Italian plum is loaded this year.
And so is the Granny Smith apple tree.
Lots of grapes this year. These are Thomson seedless.
I learned this year that Thomson seedless turn a purplish color when fully loaded with sugar. Mmmmm....
The "vineyard" at a distance - with my helpers, Daisy and Zeke.
Upper orchard.
Lower orchard.
The creek adjacent the lower orchard.
The recovering Asian pear which went into the beaver dam with blossoms and baby fruit early in the spring. Note cage to keep beavers away.
The path down to the launching place for the creek float.
The launch area, as inspected by Muffy.
View through cattails of the creek from the launching spot.
Goldenrod with guests.
The breached beaver dam with teasel in foreground.
Creek behind the breached beaver dam.
Lawn in late summer.
Honeydew melon.
Yellow doll watermelons.
Tomatoes with basil in front.
From tomatoes toward yard, new strawberry bed in mid-ground.
Winter squash.
Shaded seating area.
My summertime station after the work is done.
This year marks 25 years of living and gardening at Fat Bottom Farm. It has been such a privilege and learning experience to know one piece of land so well. Above is this year's "cool garden" (so named as the garden area with the most shade and thus most favorable for those crops that like cooler conditions for optimum growth). The trellis is for peas (strings not yet up).
Moving North, or right, the foreground will be potatoes this year, the early irises are blooming on the right, and the raspberries are budding in the rear.
Moving North or right again (and so for the most of the rest of this progression), this is the strawberry patch I moved and started last year, bordered by irises on the left. Not evident is that they are full of bloom and I can't wait for June!
Next to strawberry patch is this year's melon patch. Winter squash will go in the rear.
This is the melon patch after the hot caps have been added for warmth and protection from the fierce winds that have been sweeping the garden this year, a very cool spring.
North of the melon patch are the tomatoes with summer squash in the middle. Walls of water are on the first tomatoes I planted and the others will have them by this evening. There are also peppers planted among the tomatoes. Sweet corn will be in the rear.
This is the path to the greenhouse, between tomatoes, flowers, and herb garden.
This year's enhanced herb garden with greenhouse in background.
Black Diamond watermelon in melon patch, compliments of friend Pwyll.
Sweet corn will be in foreground and asparagus bed is just beyond, windbreak beyond that. This is the north end of the back part of the garden, next to the greenhouse on the West side.
This is the Garden Pixie who is foreshadowing lots of great produce.
The gardener's feet.
The gardener's weeding and planting hand (always the left hand, though I am predominately right-handed - go figure).
