With the cooler temperatures lately, things are really beginning to wind down in the garden.  This past week I cleaned up the garden beds by pull up about half of our tomato plants, and I decided to stop watering the pumpkin patch as well.

Although I’m pretty confident I’ll be able to grow boatloads of kale, Swiss chard, and carrots during the late fall and early winter months, I really wish I could look into a magic ball and see how long my other vegetables are going to continue to grow.  Because the lats thing I want to do is wake up one morning, and see frost on everything without having a change to harvest it.

Being a backyard gardener, and learning as you grow, isn’t always as easy as it’s cracked up to be.  There is a learning curve, and I just want to make sure I can stay ahead of it, so I can reach my goal of growing 2,000 pounds of fruits and vegetables in my backyard this year.

I guess we’ll just have to see what happens, together.

This summer, Creepy Gnome Guy did a pretty good job defending the acorn squash from predators.  I think we’ll end up with about 7 or 8 squash and they’ll be great for roasting this winter.

Cold weather vegetables like Bok Choy and broccoli are thriving with the cooler evening temperatures, and as Martha would say, “It’s a Good Thing,” because we LOVE stir fry dinners around here.

I think we are going to end up with 2 or 3 stalks of Brussels sprouts this year.  I started out with 6 this spring, but so far 2 of them have flowered and gone to seed and another just fell over and is currently laying down on top of the soil {but still growing}.  Since this is my first year growing Brussels Sprouts, I’ll be happy with anything I get.  Or rather the Handsome Husband will be happy, because I don’t care for the tiny little heads of cabbage.

With the exception of the mint, the herb garden is still hanging in there.  At this time we are still able to harvest oregano, rosemary, sage and chives.

The red cabbage is in various stages around the backyard garden, this is a picture of one of the larger heads.

Kale, ya, it’s still there.

And finally, here we are in the first week on October, the heirloom tomatoes are starting to ripen on the vine.

It’s a freakin’ miracle.  As much as I really want some snow this year, if I could make a special request, I’d prefer the “Winter Blast of 2012” hit AFTER Christmas so I can harvest as many tomatoes as possible this year.

I can dream right?

Well, that’s what’s growing in my backyard right now, what’s happening at your place?  Have you thrown in the towel for this years growing season yet, or are you still trying to coax your vegetables along?

Well, it’s time for me to get up and start my day.

Peace Out Girl Scouts, it looks like it’s going to be a busy one.

~Mavis

Looking for information on how to save on your grocery budget by growing some of your own food?  Check out The Encyclopedia of Country Living by Carla Emery.  This book is packed with all sorts of useful information about growing, processing, cooking, and preserving homegrown foods from the garden.  Amazon currently has this book in stock and ready to ship.