The Garden in Fall
The vines that grow along my garden fence are beautiful in the fall. And I do enjoy the beauty of the garden in fall, even though I’m always a bit sad when the garden is winding down!
In the mornings I have a little window of opportunity for taking garden photos before the sun starts to peek over the east fence and the garden has too many light and dark spots to get a good photo. This morning I barely made it out in time, but I’m glad I managed to get one shot of the beautiful Fall color on the vines that grow along my garden fence. Truth is, I don’t especially like those vines, but they do redeem themselves every fall. It’s getting pretty cold here, but every year I always have a hard time completely saying goodbye to the garden.
Here’s a closer shot of those beautiful Autumn colors on the vines. The vines creep over from the neighbor’s yard, and I have no idea what kind of vines they are but I suspect they might be weeds!
I’ve been pulling out the plants but haven’t done this first bed yet, and there’s mostly just a mess here now. There are a few volunteer tomatillos on the ground and one Buttercup squash hanging around in the middle. I got maybe 10 Buttercup squash total, but not sure I would devote so much space to them again.
I’ve completely pulled out the beans, cucumbers, and bell pepper plants, but couldn’t bear to pull out these Japanese eggplants that each had several fruits on them. I watch the weather every night and when we’re going to have a freeze I’ll have to cut the eggplants off and call it good, but for now I’m nursing them along.
I pulled out the onions and the Red Russian Kale, but the Swiss Chard and Curly Green Kale is still growing like crazy. Last week I made something really good with kale that I’ll be posting this weekend!
And in the farthest west bed at the bottom of this photo, the squash plants are completely gone.
I guess the tall fence around my yard keeps it at least a little bit warm because I’m still getting some ripe tomatoes, although the plants are starting to look scraggly and a bit sickly. I usually keep going with the tomatoes as long as there’s the remotest possibility that they’ll ripen!
And the Green Zebra plants are still loaded with tomatoes, although they’re even slower to ripen than the red tomatoes at this time of year. Next year I want to replace one Green Zebra with a Lemon Boy tomato; I missed having yellow tomatoes this year.
Other than the basil, which I trimmed quite vigorously and used to make one final batch of Basil Pesto with Lemon, all my herbs are still healthy and happy. It’s time for freezing fresh herbs, garden tomatoes, and vegetables for winter though. That’s on my project list for the weekend! I think I’ll do one more garden update for this year, where I’ll record the things I want to remember for next year’s garden, but I doubt there will be many more garden photos to share.
21 Comments on “The Garden in Fall”
Thanks Andrea! I'm trying to hang on to the plants for a bit longer but it's really cold here today.
Your garden looks so beautiful, love the colors.
Alyssa, thanks! I have been loving this raised beds system for the garden.
Hi Tamra. Glad you have been enjoying the blog. I have had the raised beds for several years but was so tired of weeding around the beds, so last fall I hired a crew to convert my beds to drip irrigation and put a layer of thick cloth/gravel around the beds. I absolutely love it! I'd guess it reduced my weeding time by about 90%! There are a few weeds that poke up around the edges but no big deal. And it gave me time to keep the beds themselves weeded a lot better. Highly recommend this system!
Hi Kalyn,
I have been reading and enjoying your blog for over a year, but your garden really prompted me to write. I LOVE your gravel and raised beds- I am lazy and hate weeding! I would consider that for any future garden I would plant. How is your weed blocker and gravel system working?
Thanks for doing what your do!
Tamra in Maryland
Wow Kalyn your garden is so amazing and organized! I love it!!!
Wow Kalyn you are my gardening inspiration. Your garden is beautiful!!!!
Chigiy, you are not a loser gardener by any stretch of the imagination. I agree, it's so sad to pull out the tomatoes, sigh.
I'm a loser gardener, I can't tell you what that vine is. I like Green zebra because they are so prolific and they taste pretty good. I am not sure if I have grown a lemon boy before. I had yellow-orangy tomatoes this year but I lost the tag. They were sort of medium in size and they tasted pretty good. It's sad to pull out the tomatoes:(
kdbm, sorry to hear about your early frost. Thanks for the info on the vines; so maybe it is a plant my neighbors planted along their fence and I'm just benefitting from!
We've already had to pull out our tomato plants. Average first frost in November 12th, and this year it came on October 20th. Brrr!
Most of the vines appear to be Virginia Creeper, 5 leaves, with great fall color.
Thanks Dara. They do help make the garden pretty in fall when I'm mourning the loss of fresh veggies!
Oh my goodness, those vines look so beautiful. What a lovely backdrop for your garden.
Thanks, but the vines grow over from the neighbor's yard so I can't take any credit for them. I do have a nice deck though where I can sit and admire them.
WOW what a beautiful garden. The vines are genius, both in placement and in selection of the variety. It just screams for a garden bench and a little table for your cocktail. ๐
Thanks Lydia! I wish I could keep them around a bit longer.
Love those vines on the back fence; it adds a whole other dimension to the Fall garden.
Pam, we're definitely getting close to it here. I keep hoping for a little bit longer.
I'm going to be freezing a bunch of herbs this weekend too! Tonight is our first frost warning of the season!
Barbaram I look forward to those colors every year. I'm jealous hearing about olive trees. That would be fun to grow, but too cold here I'm afraid.
Kalyn that first photo is gorgeous. We should give thanks to nature for creating such beautiful colours. I wish I was a gardener but the only success I have had in the garden were my olive trees. From my five trees in pots and two in the front garden, I would harvest enough olives for the entire year.