First, a young monarch butterfly on a purple zinnia. One can observe that its sorting out how to be a new butterfly through its sluggishness and drinking from a flower that is going past its prime, thus not much nectar. It’s learning!

Puffball marigolds planted near a Pineapple Hawaiian beefsteak tomato plant. Most of the flowers are almost 3 inches across.

And, if you want more cherry tomatoes than you know what to do with, plant a Yellow Pear “cherry” tomato. If I thought last year’s single plant was grande, holy molly on its progeny! This one plant needs two cages for its sprawl. It has exceeded the tops of the tallest tomato cages I own and is climbing to the sky. It’s clusters are five or six fruit full, one tomato ripening at a time (daily). But, with several clusters always rioening, six to ten are gathered daily. They are sweet, prolific, and work well in any recipe. I highly recommend this tomato plant for quantity and ease, but not for a potted container or a small space. (I planted four in four different locations to observe causes, conditions, and results. Four different size plants – not enough sun in the other three spots. All are bearing fruit. Only the one with 6 hours or so of sun got big.)

Gotta share this yummy! A red lentil dahl with garden veggies: garlic, walking onions, yellow zucchini, variety of cherry tomatoes, and lacinato kale for greens.

Shifting gears:

• Tomatoes are coming in. Some of the beefsteak are truly huge! The Amana Orange especially.
• Several of these had to grow on the ground due to their weight. Well, when we had three days of glorious rain (and snow kissed mountains), they were going to rot where they lay; so I gathered the ground dwellers between rains. Lo and behold, the worms and centipedes were already feasting on the bottom of the fruits. No problem though for the rest of the largess! I’m thinking a “green” tomato salsa with these not-quite-ripe beauties.

Putting up for winter

• Kale is being de-stemmed and frozen.
• Chard is being turned into saag and frozen.
• One batch of tomato sauce (not marinara) is canned.
• Peas are shucked and frozen.
• Collard are cooked down and frozen.
• More of most of these delights will be generated until the first frost and put up.
• Kabocha squash is taking its time. It struggled with primarily irrigation watering. We had so little precipitation after June.
• Corn is done and eaten!

Seed gathering

If one grows beans for drying (various dry bean legumes), late rains are a challenge. Same with corn being dried on the cob/plant or peas going to seed on the plants. They will rot hanging on their vines; hence the term “dried.” Afternoon showers then cold nights are no bueno. By the same token, we need all the precipitation we can get! So, get out the drying rack for under the porch.

You have to be creative, though, because the chipmunk and mice would love drying seeds, peas and beans. Hmm. Sorting it out!