Friday sure came fast this week! That whole Labor Day Weekend thing puts quite a cramp in my blogging style. Happily, the garden is enjoying the still hot but not so ridiculous temperatures we’re experiencing. The fall veggies are going strong, promising another 2+ months of gardening.

Somehow I feel like this cantaloupe plant is confused as to what time of year it actually is. It is still blooming…in September! I haven’t dug around to see if there are any new cantaloupes set on, but just the fact that it’s still blooming is rather amazing to me. It doesn’t even seem to be fazed by any insects or diseases.

The caterpillars have abandoned our fennel plants after eating them to sticks and have turned their attention to our parsley. They are making short work of it too. I’ve also seen these caterpillars testing out grape leaves and gomphrena flowers. I think our butterfly caterpillar population might be getting out of control.

Speaking of insects getting out of control, the flea beetles are making a comeback and have found our fall radishes and Bok Choy. I sense neem oil in their future!

Our single surviving apple is starting to turn red! A couple weeks ago, I was asked if I was sure that it was supposed to be a red apple, since it was just hanging out and being green. I double checked the tag and the catalog, and ‘Crimson Spire’ is supposed to be red. It’s exciting that it is actually starting to turn red!

We have Hyacinth Beans planted out along our trellis, but they are enjoying growing on the inside of the trellis too. They have just started blooming vigorously in the last couple weeks.

The hordes of tiny grasshoppers that were enjoying the garden this spring thankfully didn’t turn into hordes of huge grasshoppers eating everything in sight this summer and fall. However, this guy is enjoying the citrus marigolds.

I guess this is the time to mention that I’m going to be out of town a lot for the next 3 weeks for various work activities. I will probably post once or twice a week, but not a lot more than that. At some point in here, I’m going to write up my comments on all the different varieties of things we’ve tried this year, so be watching for that.

Have a great weekend!