Fall in the garden

There has been little more than nothing going on around here, but fall has definitely arrived in the garden.

My kale was so covered with white flies that I stopped picking it weeks ago.

When the forecast showed a frost coming, I cut down the worst of the two plants in the hope that the flies wouldn't survive and I could still harvest some kale from the other before winter.

That first frost was over a week ago, which is a good two weeks before our average first frost date. Temperatures were back in the 70's within a couple days and have since leveled out in the 50-60's, which is perfect fall weather.

Some of the cabbages that I planted and then gave up on are staging a slight comeback.

The peanut plant (the big green plant in the above photo) is still growing, so apparently the squirrels are better fall gardeners than I am. There are so many holes in my garden beds that I'm afraid they'll be filled with peanut plants next spring, unless the squirrels actually remember where they buried all those peanuts.

The radishes look good, and I even picked a few before the frost.

Most of them, however, haven't actually formed radishes, but rather just have slightly large roots.

There's one cabbage next to the radishes that didn't succumb as quickly as the others. I've picked several caterpillars off of it, and it's starting to form a small head, so there's a slight possibility I'll get a cabbage this fall.

The marigolds are still going strong and every time I think about cutting them down, I see a bee or butterfly on them.

I need to remember next year that I probably only need one or two plants, not five or six.

I planted a pea and oat cover crop in one of the empty areas, and it has really done well.

The peas had the most beautiful purple flowers, but I forgot to take any pictures of them.

Bell peppers always seem to end the year with a flourish, and this year is no different.

One plant has several small peppers on it.

I covered all of them with plastic before the frost, and they are still doing well, so I will probably be picking a handful of peppers in the next few days.

I've been slowing cutting down the tomatoes.

They all look like crap but still have quite a few fruits on them.

I picked about five pounds of green tomatoes before the frost, and they have all since ripened inside. The plants survived that frost quite well, and I've even picked a few more tomatoes since then. I've completely removed two of the seven plants so far and trimmed the others back considerably. I will probably get a couple more cut down this weekend.

The tomato plants have been going out to the curb as yard waste, but even so, my composter is already full. It isn't big enough to accommodate too much, so I might have to build another one next year.

Last but not least, the nasturtiums that I planted late on a whim have done very well.

 I haven't paid much attention to them all summer, but they've been quietly thriving in their corner.

It's probably time for me to get out there and get to work on those tomato plants.