If you’ve been following this blog for a while, you may recognize that photo up there from my month-long RAW trial back in March. I picked up that strange fruit, labeled as ‘Spiny Melon’ from New Zealand, when I was making some tropical fruit sushi. I just couldn’t resist the way it looked, and I figured it would be sweet inside, like other melons I love.

But cutting it open, this barbed little beast was nothing like what I expected. The inside was very seedy, with a watery flesh that was certainly not sugary. It reminded me of something but I just couldn’t place it, until Damian took one bite and said, “Oh, it’s a cucumber.” Yes! That’s exactly it! The spiny melon is an exotic, wild cucumber.

So just for fun, and because it was March and I was eager for planting season, I decided to take a gamble. I rinsed off a bunch of the seeds, and spread them out on a paper towel (this was back before I stopped using paper towels) to dry. A few weeks later I remembered about them, fashioned some newspaper seed pots, and plunked them into potting soil.

They actually sprouted! So I put them into the ground, right amongst my corn stalks, and they took off. They grew! And grew . . . and grew . . . and overtook the corn, and the butternuts I’d planted alongside, and anything else nearby. They were these creeping curly prickly vines that just covered everything!

But I never saw them flower – all I ever saw was leaves and vines and curly-q crawlers. So in early fall I finally gave up on them. It was winter prep-time anyways. I put on my gloves (the vines were so thorny!) and began pulling up the vines. I’d gotten maybe 3/4 of the way through the bed, when suddenly something caught my eye. This stalk I’d just cut . . . bore a teeny tiny yellow flower!

I dug a little deeper, and lo and behold, what did I find underneath? . . .





Spiny cucumber! I did it!!!

Excitedly, I dug into the remaining vines. To my delight and surprise, I uncovered an entire crop of those funny foreign fruits, imported from the land of the Tuatara and the Kiwi bird.








You can try this too, with anything you bring home from the grocery store! Some of them will be viable, some of them will be sterile. You’ll never know until you plant ‘em. But, you may just end up with your own peculiar little garden, too!

Check out the adorable wee baby spiny! BONZAI!

Question: What does a vegan do with a wonderful set of egg cups?
Answer: Tomato display, of course!


Much to my surprise, my summer crops have lasted well into autumn, and continue to fill my kitchen even today. But things have certainly changed around the ol’ farm, as you can see below.





The grass is dying back and the ground is littered with plum tree leaves. The potato tires have been re-stacked and filled in, to serve as flower planters come spring. The left side bed has been cleared and mulched. The sunflowers are downed and the brush has been tidied. The right side bed hosts the small fall garden. All the clean-up and spring prep is complete, and MAN it feels good to head into winter with a clean slate.

Still, the harvest keeps trickling in! Why just today I plucked a bunch of tomatoes. In November! Granted, they’re not as flavorful as they were a few months back, but they’re homegrown and that alone is good enough for me.





This is what the tomato bed looks like these days, drying out and dying back – but still fighting:





I planted a bunch of pumpkins this year and they started off so strong. But then they just stalled, flowering and re-flowering and re-flowering again, but never producing any fruit. I’m still not quite sure what went wrong, but at least the flowers were pretty:





And then finally one little punkin’ popped out. Poor thing, it’ll never make it now. But look! It’s so cute!





I had all but forgotten about the peppers I started from seed, waaaaay back in early spring. But I was pulling up a beet the other day, and my hand grazed the small stunted bell pepper plant. I’d overlooked them because the green just blends right in with the foliage. But there were actual bells on there! Two baby bells in fact.





And these pretty peppers came in as well – I just picked them today. I’d scavenged the seedlings, half dead, out of the free pile at the nursery. Does anyone know what they are? They remind me of peperoncinis, so I’m thinking of pickling them!





And finally, the actual autumn crops. These have sort of been demolished by feisty chickens scratching for bugs, but I’m still holding out hope. At least you can get an idea of what they looked like a few weeks ago, of what the potential was. *sigh*

The lettuce (with beetlings in the background):





And the kale:





And that’s all I’ve got for now. Honestly, I never expected to be giving garden updates in November, and I’m just delighted its lasting this long.

So what about you dears? Are you still getting your green on?

I grew taters! Like, really really yummy ones! I’m a tater-maker, woo hoo!!!

You may remember all the way back in April, I posted an article outlining how to grow potatoes in tire towers. I started my own tater seeds that month, and would periodically update every few months. Everything seemed to be going swimmingly, but there’s really no way to tell what’s going on under all that dirt.

Recently, I decided it was time to harvest. To be honest, I think I jumped the gun a bit. I was supposed to stop watering and let the greenery die back slowly, which would give the little spuds time to mature into big spuds. But I was also supposed to harvest before the first rain, or risk squishy spuds rotting in the mud.

Well, a few weeks ago we got a ton of rain here. I spooked, I guess, and decided to dismantle the towers before the greenery had died back. Maybe it wasn’t the best decision, but it was the one I felt I had to make. So I began digging. And sifting. And removing. And digging. And two full tires down I was really starting to worry, until . . .





Eureka! I think I actually squealed.

All in all it took me over an hour to break down the stacks. In total, I only found one potato higher than the third tire. Almost all of them were clustered in the second tire (the tire the seeds had been planted in), which I didn’t expect. As well, many of them were teeny tiny. So perhaps they’d needed to mature after all.





In the end, my haul was pretty puny. Not that I’m complaining, and it actually seems on par with what other bloggers have gotten out of this project. I wonder what we’re all doing wrong?

I’m still debating about whether or not I’ll do this again. If I do, I’ll definitely keep my stacks lower – maybe seed in tire #1 and then only stack three high. That way, energy can go to growing existing taters, instead of growing more green foliage.

The crotchety Russets. They’re so mutant!

My pile of Yukon Gold nuggets. This was the largest yield for sure.

And finally the Reds, with quite a size range!

Am I disappointed with my harvest? Hells No!! I’m so proud of what I grew, and thrilled it worked at all. For a first time spud farmer, I’ve got no complaints.

Of course, the fact that they’re maybe the richest, tastiest taters I’ve ever eaten, certainly helps!

First meal: crushed Yukons with herbed gravy. The Yukons taste like butter.

I can’t believe we’re just two weeks shy of autumn! That’s wild, where did the summer go? I swear it was just last week I was complaining about the heat. But it rained here all weekend, and yesterday I actually wore *jeans*, and this morning my breakfast was *oatmeal*. Oh yeah, fall is on the way.

So I’ve been spending some quality time in the yard this week, and thought I’d share the latest progress and produce. First exciting things first, my sunflowers finally bloomed! These are my first successful sunflowers, started from tiny seeds, and now the tallest one towers a good foot above my head – that’s over 7 feet high!







The plums are coming fast these days, faster than I can pick and prune them. There’s evidence of my failure all around.







But that’s okay, they make great snacks for hungry foragers, all soft and split and filled with yummy bugs. Mmmm! The chickens love the yard these days, though I don’t love constantly chasing them out of my garden plots. Such stubborn little birdies! Here’s a few shots of a recent sunny dust bath under the plum tree:







Those incorrigible hens just couldn’t get enough of my root-veggie bed, for some strange reason. Every time I turned my back they’d be in there, scratching away. As a result they killed or stunted every single walla walla I planted . . . all except for one. My one small survivor onion, which we finally unearthed and enjoyed in tonight’s green curry.





The other raised bed is doing great, with cucumbers slowly coming along, and tomatoes off the charts. My cucumbers could be happier, but at least they’ve stopped turning bright yellow on me (nutrient deficiency). Tonight I made my first ever jar of pickles, and if it turns out you can definitely expect a recipe.





The tomatoes are also going off, dropping fruit almost faster than we can eat it. Almost! Pictured on the vine are the cherries and green zebras (they’re ripe in that picture), but we’ve also got goldens and standard red slicers (pictured as harvest). The slicers make the *best* Tofurkey sandwiches!











And finally, my brand new fall garden is starting to unfold. I’ve been weeding and fertilizing and thinning out seedlings (oh woe!), and it looks like I’ll have some pretty nice options come autumn. You can see the broad-leafed brassica sprouts (cauliflower I think), the bright green lettuce line, and the tight row of forest-colored kale babies.











And that, my dear, is that. So tell me – how is your summer crop shaping up? Was it a good year for you in the garden?

Ah, summer, how quickly you seem to slip away. Oh well, at least it means more treasured gifts from the garden! We’re well into midsummer crops by now, and that means some of my favorite veggies. Love it!

In my last harvest post, I introduced some early wee carrots. Now a month later I’ve dug up my largest carrot tops, only to find . . . MUTANTS below the surface!

Seriously, crazy right? What’s going on with these disfigured carrots? Well whatever it is, they sure were tasty!

*sigh* You know how I write love songs about baking soda? Well, I’m thinking of penning an ode to tomatoes next. Seriously. I’m working on it.

My cherries were first to ripen and I still get a handful every day or two.

The goldens came next in all their sweetness, and still are steadily ripening,

The red slicers just began ripening. I ate the first of them today!!

Look at this little cutie! I rescued a few half-dead pepper plants from the free pile at the nursery, and to my surprise they sprang back to health! I’ve already gotten a couple of these mini hot peppers, with many more budding on the bush.

The last of the brocollini crop. It was a pretty low yield this season, due to some unexpected heat. But I loved what I got, and apparently so did this little green caterpillar. Ha!

And finally, the plums are here! Our tree is simply covered in fruit this year, who knows why? All I know is I’ve got enough pluots for plum pudding, plum chutney, and plenty of prunes. Time to get to preserving!

And that’s that (for now!). I’m still picking parsley, basil, and blueberries, along with a few other patio garden herbs. Coming soon: cucumbers, corn, and cross your fingers for my onions!

And what about you my dears? How do your gardens grow?