A Windy Knoll Gardening Report

The vegetable garden here at the Windy Knoll is in various stages.  The pea rows are almost through producing, but they have done a fantastic job.  Our freezers are so full I doubt you could get a thimble in either of them.  John picked and I shelled.  We have also harvested dry ones to have on January 1 with the greens.  Now he’ll pick dry ones to save for seed.

I’m tempted to pray for frost — I’m tired of doing all this.  The okra is still producing, but we’re trying to give it away.  We like the large variety best and he is allowing some of it to mature for seed.

There are two pretty rows of winter onions growing and they’ll be ready to eat in a few weeks.

Next it’s sweet potatoes — my mother always said September is the month for the sweet potatoes to grow.  Well, now that September is over it’s time to harvest, but I’ll give a potato report another time.

Greens are almost ready — in fact, I believe we could pick a small mess now.  We mixed the seed — purple top turnips, kale, mustard, radishes and rape.  Yum, that will be so good.  We usually pick and freeze some for our daughter to take to her church-group supper in Atlanta and we call them our holy roller greens.  Those folks just laugh about it — they  are Church of God people.  Good people anyway!

Now let’s talk about the flowers.  It’s a pleasure to take a walk around to see what’s still pretty even though it’s fall.  There is one clump of cone flowers still in bloom — I cut them back about  mid July so they would bloom again late in the season.  There is one other clump about ready to open up.  I used to be able to spit out the botanical names, but no more — bear with  me.

Next in sight is the Fountain Grass — I know I’ve shown it before, but it’s still pretty with it soft plums swaying in the gentle breeze.  As I leave that spot I spy the Porter Weed.  I’m told it’s a wild flower in Florida.  It, like the Fountain Grass can’t winter over outside, but we’ll dig them and drag them to the basement for the winter.

The low-growing yellow Lantana is crowded out by other plants, but it is showy none the less.  I’ve shown the Mexican Sage before, too, but can’t keep from showing it again.  I made the pictures while standing on the back stoop.  The sage with white is six feet or more tall — gorgeous and is long-lasting.  The solid purple is shorter, but pretty anyway.  In the picture of the yellow Lantana you may be able to spot a red flower of the Pineapple Sage.  It is pretty also, but I must admit I have them too close together but. . .

 

 

What could be more pleasing than a walk in the early fall to enjoy seeing vegetables as well as flowers in bloom.  This has to be one of he better parts of country living.