Here's a quick update on what I'm harvesting from my fall garden right now.

Fall Garden Harvest
PC: Leslie F. Halleck

Swiss chard I planted from seed is big enough now to harvest. The sorrel is going strong and has put on lots of new growth with all this rain. Cool season herbs like dill are kicking into gear. Lots of peppers coming right now and a few more eggplant. Some wax beans are ripening as well. Basil is still going strong. And I scored four eggs yesterday. Haven't gone out to check on today's nests. The color didn't translate in the photo well, but there are two green eggs, one blue and one white.

Ok, you guys have been asking for organic feed, so I just placed an order or Organic Pullet Starter, Organic Layer Feed and Organic Corn today. We hope to get that in at North Haven Gardens within about a week. They will all be 50lb bags because after 6 months of haggling that is the only size I can get! Retail pricing for the feed will be around $60 a bag give or take (don't have final yet) and the corn around $50. So around a buck a pound for the organic. Still waiting on an eta but don't imagine it will be more than a week. We will still carry the conventional layer pellets and scratch. NHG carries lots of backyard chicken keeping supplies like handcrafted cedar arks, nesting boxes, feeders, waterers, supplements, food grade diatomaceous earth, books and more.

What's wrong with this picture?? I got here before 7am...still here....sigh. Inventory gone wrong....lol. Maybe I'll see bed by 2am if I'm lucky. Ah, ain't technology grand? LOL

Happy midnight surfing...

So it seems more of the gals have started kicking into gear while I'm on vacation...the neighbors on babysitting duty are taking photos for me. lol. At least one of the Ameraucanas is now laying...I have a feeling it's Pecker, since she looked like she was trying to do "the squat" the day before we left on our trip. I'm not sure if Phyllis has starting laying yet or not, it may just still be Einstein, who started laying last Friday.

Fresh Yard Eggs
PC: Leslie F. Halleck

The two smaller ones are probably from Einstein, and the larger one on the left is from one of the Ameraucanas...Lonnie said it's the prettiest sage color, but that's really not showing up in the photo.

They seem a little confused about where they're supposed to lay their eggs....lol...I think they're doing it everywhere except the roosting boxes.

If you look real close...you'll see one little egg in some straw on the ground below the coop...lol

Look at those beautiful orange yolks! All those good greens they eat. Plus, I add flax oil to their cook spaghetti...what's good for them is good for me! Commercial grocery store eggs??? NO THANKS!

Yes, You Can Plant Beans in Late Summer for Fall Harvest

If you seeded some beans in August, you should have some nice little plants going by now. This is one bed of mixed bush beans I planted the last week of August. There were originally more seedlings but they've been thinned. Annual bush beans, black-eyed peas and other quick maturing beans can be planted in August or the first week of September in our area for a fall harvest. Look for maturity dates (on the seed packets) of around 70 or less days for fall planting. The varieties that mature in 50-65 days are best. Legumes are Nitrogen fixers and can help improve the nutrient content of your soil. It's a good idea to rotate legumes around your garden each year to improve your soil.

While I don't happen to have anything else planted in this bed, bush beans don't take up much space and you can easily inter-crop them with other plants in the garden. During the heat of summer they take only a few days to germinate and will grow quickly. If you've never grown beans in your garden spot before, try using a garden inoculant in the soil the first time around. This will help your beans establish better by encouraging the beneficial relationship with soil bacteria that help form those Nitrogen-fixing nodules on the roots.

If you planted beans in that spot before, you don't need to do this. Remember, don't over-fertilize your beans you you won't get very much fruit. Because beans fix a lot of their own Nitrogen, you don't need to add much. I should start seeing the first beans on these plants in just a couple of weeks.

It's always a nice surprise when the rain lilies start blooming. I have a few different species in my garden but this one is the most vigorous (Zephyranthes candida). I have a lovely hybrid called 'Autumn Sunset' with the prettiest peach blooms given to me by my friend Jimmy. I just noticed a couple of buds on it yesterday. Rain lilies are really tough and versatile and you can plant them amidst herbaceous perennials, other bulbs and even turf. While they'll bloom sporadically through summer, the biggest flush of blooms on this species usually comes in spring and again in fall. The bulbs are tiny so they're easily inter-planted into groundcovers like liriope and mondo grass. Some have a light pleasant fragrance. They multiply by bulb and seed.

This is my view out of our back windows every evening around dusk...the chickens go upstairs and each angle for a spot in the windows....lol. Their roosting boxes are right under the windows and they've taken to sleeping on top of them so they can look out the windows. What's funny is that we had the windows put in for us...to peek in on them. Didn't expect that they would be so interested in using them! You can see Phyllis in the window with her bright white mop (sorry the photo's a little blurry). Somehow she's managed to lay claim to that particular window spot every evening. Too funny....