Signs of August

Today, Sunday August 21st, I looked around my garden and wondered what things would look like if it hadn't been such a wet summer.  It's dried out a bit in the last week or so, but the rain persists amidst the changing seasons.  Fall is creeping in on the edges of summer.  The fireweed has all but bloomed out and the dogwood leaves are turning it's classic dark red color.  Blueberry season has come and gone, perhaps with some hangers on here and there.  The smell of labrador lurks in the wet under-story of the boreal forest.  The garden is in it's mature stage and is starting to show signs on the end of the growing season. 

August is one of my favorite months.  There is always surprisingly more summer left and the speed at which people begin to prepare for winter starts to gear up.  That anxiety of being ready for winter starts to sink in a little and you begin thinking about what you need to do before the snow hits.  Then you realize that you easily have a couple months left.  There are still green leaves and the geese haven't left yet.  Keep growing little garden!

Here's where we're at today:

Those melons that lived all summer in their tiny plastic tunnel finally outgrew it.  Now they have the area where the Asian Greens were to stretch their long, stunted limbs.  Tiny flowers bloom but no fruit is apparent.  I doubt I'll see anything but why not let it have fun growing?  And wouldn't it be adorable to get a teeny weeny melon?  Yes, it would.

The big pumpkin!  There's also a slightly smaller one.  These both hung on after the end of their limbs were stomped off by jerk moose.  Good job, pumpkins.  I can't wait to see what you do.

The compost pile got enough water to make it's own garden.  My sister-in-law gifted me some tomato plants that had sprouted up too tall before they got out of their starter packs.   They didn't do well and were about to die so I tossed them in the compost not thinking much about it.  But, here they are, standing tall.  I'd totally eat some compost tomatoes.  Go for it Toms.

These leggy pansies hate the too much water but they also don't seem to like being too tall.  One way or another, they don't stop so I let them keep blooming.

I'm sorry lavender.  I failed you.  All you wanted to do was grow, but I pulled you out of the elements and put you under the awning too late in life.  Maybe you'll have one stalk that I'll harvest and hang as a reminder of how I need to pay attention to the signs.  For now, I'll let you keep trying until you tell me to stop.

Oh, Petunias.  I know.  You hate the too much water too.  You're even showing signs of bruising. 

These are flowers that have been battered by rain for weeks on end.  Flowers still bloom but they're all a little worse for the wear.  Poor things.

LOOK AT THESE FLOWIES.  Marigolds have been the one flower who does not give a flying fudge about the rain.  They don't seem to care about anything except growing and being gorgeous.  I should certainly plant MORE of these next year, planning on more rain and more weird weather.

I finally gave in and covered my potatoes.  They need to dry out and I already have one plant that died.  Once they get a little dryer, I'll dig it up and see what's going on under there.  

I finally transplanted the rhubarb into it's new home.  It's near the house in a mix of organic potting soil with fertilizer and the top soil around the house.  It will get a decent amount of sun, although it could probably use more.  Hopefully it will winter over well and I'll have a happily producing plant next summer.

 There's more summer left, so who knows what's in store for my garden.  At this point, I see the light at the end of the tunnel.  I see pulling plants and getting the beds ready for winter.  I see hanging herbs to dry, bagging potatoes, putting away empty pots and hanging up my shovel and trowel.  However, I think this garden has more to give, for now anyway.  I'll let things grow for as long as their still having fun.

In the meantime, I let the peas that weren't totally destroyed by the moose hang on for the heck of it.  Two plants have started all over, climbing, flowering and even producing!  Plants are incredible forces that even with great efforts, cannot be stopped.  I'll take this as a sign to let this garden go, late into the season.  Until either the moose come back or the weather changes for the worse.  

Here's to a dry fall!

Thanks for not giving up, peas.  It means a lot.