Fall Garden

The garden is winding down now, but there are still fun discoveries and plenty to look at!

The pumpkin patch was getting pretty ugly, so we picked the last of the green pumpkins and threw all the vines away.

 

I also threw away half of the sunflowers, but I'll have to wait till next week to fit more in the trash can! They were fun while they lasted but now the seeds are getting everywhere. 

The kids still enjoy finding ladybugs, and there are plenty of them because of the aphids taking over the broccoli. It's time to take the broccoli, kale, and green beans out.  

Luckily the kale is being covered by morning glory flowers now, so it looks pretty! Ella helped me plant them in the early summer and now they are in their glory! (Pun intended.)

For my own memory, I recently planted a sedum start from Doris in the front island.

I also planted an Echinacea (Purple Coneflower) to try again. I had on once but it died of an unknown cause.

Fall in Utah is so beautiful! One evening the sunset was glorious and it looked so pretty with the orange zinnias and grasses. I love where I live!

Garden Salad

I am loving our fall garden! 

When I need a side for dinner I just run out and grab everything I need for an authentic garden salad: mixed greens, carrots, cucumbers, and tomatoes.

I am definitely converted to growing lettuce twice a year... I always feel jipped in the spring because the lettuce is still thick but it goes bitter when temps get hot.

Now if only my spinach would ever perform well!

Fall Planting + Grandma's Garden

The front end of my garden was feeling really bare, so I took my mother-in-law's advice and tried planting a fall garden for the first time! I am really excited about it. 

She planted at the end of July and says that is ideal for good development before the frosts come. I did it the second week of August because that's how long it took me to decide, find the seeds, and get them in the ground! We planted broccoli, lettuce, spinach, and peas again. I am so excited about these cool season veggies because they just don't last long enough in the spring!

As I was writing this I went out and checked the garden and there are pea and lettuce seedlings! Aaahh, the miracle of life never ceases to amaze me!

I took some pictures of her garden while we were visiting Grandma a few weeks ago. She has the same feeling that I do, that gardening is therapeutic and good for the soul!

Cucumbers, beans, tomatoes, lettuces, cabbages, chard, cantaloupe... they make a pretty display in this square foot type planting.

Two sizes of pear trees. She is good at thinning them and they are getting big and juicy!

Maddie knew where to look for her favorite treat--red raspberries!

Maddie's favorite thing to do at Grandma's is hang in her maple tree in the front yard.

Ella wanted to try it too.

Even Mike couldn't resist the easy-to-climb branches! Fun memories. 

Autumn Blaze

It has been such a warm, beautiful autumn. The bright sunshine and colors are so vibrant. I especially love the line of cottonwoods behind my house... I can see their golden blaze out of about six windows in the back of my house.

We have enjoyed many warm afternoons out on our bikes. We still have lots of carrots and they make a great snack.

Speaking of the garden, I have been grateful the weather has stayed warm because I haven't gotten around to cleaning it out yet. We gave it a good effort one afternoon (Ella wanted her own bucket and filled it up!), but generally the dying produce exacerbates my morning (rather all day) nausea with this pregnancy, so I've been avoiding it. That is my main goal this weekend!

It was sure a fun change to wake up to snow one morning! It's so beautiful to see the world blanketed in white.

The kids loved making tracks and exploring it. It was a good reminder that I need to get Tyler a winter coat!

It's fun having a few plants in the yard. It makes the winter landscape so much more interesting. 

Pumpkin Picking!

Saturday was bright and beautiful, so we got outside and picked our pumpkins for the front porch!

Silly Ella, sitting on the little one. 

We ended up with about 15 pumpkins! A couple are still green so we're leaving them on the vine a bit longer. It's been so fun to have our own pumpkin patch!

 "Mom, this one is this BIG!"

We loaded up the wheelbarrow for a fun ride.

We also cut down some corn stalks to add to our fall display. I saw these selling for $8 a bunch at the grocery store, and thought, "Heck, I would have grown a packet of corn seed just to not pay that!" It's so nice to get things from my own backyard! On that note, if anyone else wants some I will share!

This one is my favorite. I love how they all turn out so different.

Happy Harvest!

The World Is So Lovely

My heart is full of thanks at this time of year. The autumn sun is brighter and clearer, the sky is bluer, and the trees are vibrant. It makes me happy.

These are views out my back windows. One day I was blow drying my hair and looking out the window and a children's song came to my head:

"The world is so lovely, I'm glad as can be, for all that the Lord has created for me.
The sunshine, the flowers, the stars up above, A home where I live and a family I love."

I also love this hymn... (reminds me of Little Women)

"For the beauty of the earth
For the beauty of the skies,
For the love which from our birth,
Over and around us lies.
Lord of all to thee we raise,
This our hymn of grateful praise."

I am so thankful for a kind Creator who made the world so beautiful.

A Case of Mistaken Identity

We watched 'The Unknown" last weekend so I have stolen identities on the brain.

Fortunately, this tree's identity wasn't stolen, just mistaken. When we bought it somehow we thought it was an 'Autumn Blaze' maple, but as autumn came along and there was no blaze, we checked the tags we saved to find it is actually an 'Emerald Queen'.

Mike was disappointed, but really I love the paper gold fluttering to the ground.

Fall Flowers

Once in awhile I get to do something flowery. I'm not very good at it anymore, but it's fun to arrange little beauties.

These are the flowers I used at an open house we hosted for Mike's mom. I got the mixed bouquet at Costco, which is always good bang for your buck. I loved the sunflowers, but I took out the carnations (not a fan) and added a small bunch of peach roses. The real cattails were a cool linear touch, and the eucalyptus berries made for a beautiful cascading feel on the bottom. The rest of the fall decor was dominantly orange and the bouquet felt lacking in that hue, so I grabbed some carrots from the garden and put them in the vase!

I love fall pumpkins and gourds. I added some clementines, leaves and seeds, and sprigs of eucalyptus and thought the the bowls turned out sweet and simple.

Fall Garden Checklist

Today is a beautiful sunny fall day, but the cool edge in the air reminds me that I have some outdoor projects to finish before cold weather sets in. The weekend forecast looks good for some last minute garden work!

Here's my list:
- Fertilize the grass (yes, it's really growing folks!)

- Round up/hoe weeds in flower beds
- Plant bulbs and pansies
- Move strawberries from garden to bed under fruit trees

- Harvest carrots and beets
- Return and replace tree that died
- Stain deck


I got this checklist in my email from Better Homes and Gardens. I like that it has 3 stages: early, mid-, and late autumn tasks. It's easy to lose steam in the fall, but if you just keep going strong and do those late season tasks, you'll be all the more ready for a great growing season next year.

Forcing Bulbs

I did something a little crazy this week. I had a horrible itch to get outside, so even though the ground was still covered in white, I broke out some gardening tools!


I really wanted to force bulbs this winter and have beautiful blooms indoors to cheer me up. When I worked at the Noni gardens we forced hyacinths and amaryllis for the lobby area during the winter, and everyone oooh and aaaaahed over them. Unfortunately, you have to start the process in the fall and I was not thinking about gardening last fall (I was still sick as a dog with this pregnancy thing). It takes anywhere between 6 and 12 weeks of chilling for bulbs to be ready to bloom. But then a thought came to me the other day... I planted a bunch of bulbs last spring... and they have been chilling in the ground all winter... so why couldn't I just dig some up and bring them inside? It was worth a try!

After clearing the ground with a snow shovel, I chipped the frozen bark with a hand trowel and then dug down where I thought I remembered planting some narcissus.

Lo and behold... LIFE! I can't even describe how exciting it is to see green shoots in January. It reminded me why I love this gardening thing.

I potted them up and brought them into my kitchen to see if they would grow. They make me smile every time I see them!

So far the shoots are turning green now that they are exposed to sunlight (photosynthesis at work) and I swear they have grown a little taller. Sadly, I may have to put them in a darker, cooler room to slow their development for a week because we are headed to Hawaii in 3 days. Oops, bad timing! It will be fun to see how they have developed while I'm gone though!

Maybe next fall I will remember to do a real tutorial on how anyone can have beautiful blooming bulbs during the cold of winter!