Pineapple Sage and Hummingbirds

This pineapple sage plant was in my garden when we moved into the house. It is a favorite of mine as the leaves are very aromatic. A scent of ripe pineapple is given off if you brush against the plant or crush the leaves. Another feature is the stalk of red flowers. Red is a favorite color of hummingbirds, so this plant attracts the hummingbirds while in bloom.

Composting!

This is one of my compost bins. This bin relies mostly on anaerobic composting (without oxygen). My other composter rotates and allows oxygen to be combined with the decomposing matter.

After my grass is cut today, I will add a layer of newly mown lawn clippings which are packed with nitrogen. They really get the composter going and will heat things up. The next layer will be leaves from the trees. A composter should be layered with 50 percent green waste and 50 percent brown waste.

I will continue adding to this composter over the winter and by spring will have beautiful crumbly, humus matter to incorporate in my garden soil.

Welcome to my visitors!

I have a site counter on my blog which lets me see where my visitors are originating. I am pleased to report my blog has seen visitors from various places around the world. Here are a few interesting places to note:

River Forest, Illinois,
Charlotte, North Carolina
Bronx, New York
Thatcher, Arizona
New Berlin, Wisconsin
Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
Princeton, New Jersey
Whittier, California
Lebanon Beirut, Beyrouth
Tustin, California
Riverbank, California
Cambridge, Massachusetts
United Kingdom Edinburgh, Edinburgh, City of
Canada Toronto, Ontario
Arlington, Texas
Laguna Niguel, California
Philippines Binondo, Manila
Italy Villa Celiera, Abruzzi
Malaysia Kuala Lumpur, Wilayah Persekutuan
Irvine, California

Welcome to all of my visitors. Enjoy your time while you are here!

Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater

This is my only pumpkin from the garden. Vividly orange, it awaits its fate either as a jack-o-lantern or a p-u-mumpkin-umkin-y y-u-umpkin-pumpkin pie!

Onions

This weekend was perfect for more garden clean up. Out came the spent cucumber and tomato vines. The garden patched looked so much better. The onions are still doing great so I left most of them to grow a little bit more. Three of the onions had leaves which were drooping over, a sign that it is harvesting time.

Planning for the Spring

With the clean up starting in the garden, I am taking careful notes about what plants were where. Next spring when I plant, I will try to rotate my crops. This will eliminate unnecessary depletion of nutrients from the soil. Additionally, this practice will help to diminish any unfavorable soil born diseases.

Signs of Fall

This week saw the beginning of the end of my summer vegetable garden. The tomato plants were ready to retire. I was delighted that my eggplant had managed to produce one small eggplant. Unfortunately, someone else (or should I say something else--rabbit, raccoon, skunk, ???) had noticed the beautiful purple fruit as well. It is gone now. I was hoping to photograph it when I discovered its disappearance. Alas.

Cucumbers and tomatoes were the most prolific plants in the garden this year.

The twelve oranges on my dwarf tree continue to grow. Last year only one fruit set, so I am delighted with the increase in yield. The fruit will probably be ripe in December.