The Last of the Vegetables

Here we are in the official first week of fall, and we still have green tomatos covering one of the tomato plants. This is a fresh flush of tomatos and yellow flowers, since the weather cooled down. I saw some green tomato preserves on a blog last night, so am thinking about trying some myself.  We also have a bunch of peppers, and the last of the green beans.

Look at all the blossoms on this plant on Sept. 30!

As you can see, the rows between the beds (except for the one covered in indoor-outdoor carpeting, were allowed to overgrow when the quail came, because they would calmly walk into them and disappear!  I planted that bed full of marigolds as companions to some tomatos.... the marigolds did not grow until after the heat wave of July, hence the fact that they are lovely now (in the weeds!)

We are still getting peppers, but I bet it's going to be too cold here before long.  I have a bunch on the counter.

The bean beds are mostly empty.  No, that's not a pumpkin you see... but a Homer bucket.  We are going to lay indoor/outdoor carpet between all the rows for next year... you can just see some, where there are NO WEEDS.  We are also going to re-dig and add amendments to all these beds. 

And here's one for the record books...when grandson Chris was here two weeks ago, he came in the big henhouse to help me for a few minutes.  While in there, he was looking around, and scared a hen who was up in the only part of the building that still has dropped ceiling tiles, over the feed room.  He stood on the small stepladder and said... I think there are eggs up here!

Of course, I can't reach up there or see, and Keith is using the bigger stepladder.  Tonight when Chris got here, we got the small stepladder and he climbed up on the cabinet to look.  This is what he found:

My little hen Nanny, a purebred Japanese bantam, was on them, trying to set them.  Ruby, my old prodcution red, has been laying up there.  The smaller eggs are Nanny's, I think.  I'm hoping since Chris got the eggs that both hens will not try to lay up there again.  Our big problem is there is no privacy in the big henhouse, and they hate laying in it.  We'll rectify all that in the new henhouse, we are going to make nice boxes for them to lay in.  I hate to waste these eggs, but they can't be eaten at this point.

I'm going to try for a third week to link to Verde Farm for Farm Friend Friday! 

POSTSCRIPT:  I appear to be unable to use the Version 2.0 Mr. Linky on the Verde Farm site... something on our computer is keeping me from linking... so I've linked for a second week to Farm Photo and Recipe Friday at Fresh from the Farm, a great blog I found a few weeks ago, with lots of good cookin' and pictures!