Onion Surprises

Last spring, I had some sprouting onion starts not yet in the ground. I tucked them in among the small tomatoes and forgot about them as the tomatoes took over. During the tomato row clean up this fall, I displaces some of the onion bulbs and just thought I'd try again another year.

Now I see onions sprouting throughout the garden (I forgot some of the places I stashed them)! I'll see how they do over the winter rather than my too late planting in the spring. They don't seem mind the frosty nights at all.

November Garden

November, in Petunia's Garden. I've left any flower and herb seed heads standing for now. I think the birds will eat some of the coneflower and black eyed susan seeds. The green and yellow blur about in the middle of the photo above is a remaining broccoli in bloom. I left it standing as the bees enjoyed it, but I think they are long gone for the winter now. Not sure if it is getting other visitors or not. You can also see blooming broccoli in this July post.
Dear Husband mowed up the fallen leaves with the grass catcher on the mower. Then he dumped the chopped up leaves in the wire cages he improvised, at the top of the picture. Once I had the beds ready for them, I spread the leaves throughout the 6 garden beds & the herb area.

Those Brussels sprouts seem to be on hold right now. The plants look good enough, but the sprouts are still quite small.

Click on the label "Garden-Monthly Photos" to see other months.

Squash of Many Lives

This small ornamental squash/pumpkin grew in the garden in 2006 (see a sibling here), from one I composted in the garden in 2005. He decorated the porch in 2007, but started getting squishy so I sat him out in the garden for composting. Well, there he sat Thanksgiving morning, just sparkling with frost. I couldn't capture the sparkles, but you can see his frosty glow in the morning light.

I did plant seeds from another one left over from last year. ... planted them next to the zucchini. I think they must have crossed with the zucchini or the delicata squash, because the fruit ended up long, not pumpkin shaped at all. It also got a late start so the frost finished it up before it made it past the green stage. Don't you just love surprises in the garden?

I've never found that this this an eating variety. The only time I ever see this type is in stores in the fall labeled "ornamental."

Happy Thanksgiving

For each new morning with its light,

For rest and shelter of the night,

For health and food, for love and friends,

For everything Thy goodness sends.

~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Welcome Matron!

So here is the exciting garden blogger event I mentioned on Sunday. Matron and her US friend visited Petunia's Garden! Oh, how fun it was to meet them, talk gardening, kick around the soil, and see that glint in another's eye when surveying decomposing leaf mulch.

A little surreal to meet a fellow garden blogger in person, but what a great common background we all have in gardening. And, she gave me a copy of Grow Your Own magazine. It is new to me and just full of veggie & fruit guidance. I will have some of these tips on my 2008 planning list, soon to be posted.
Here is my view across the pumpkin. Visit Matron, at Down on the Allotment, for her view!

I told Matron this pumpkin was soon to be in the oven. Finally, last night, I cooked it... half of it that is, since that filled the two large baking dishes I had. It weighed about 18 pounds. The cooked half filled a 7 cup storage container. Tonight I'll cook the other half, make a pie and freeze the rest of it for later.

Thanks, Matron, for fitting this visit in your busy schedule and for the wonderful magazine. Enjoy the seeds, and tell me when you are getting them started. We can keep a running comparison next year to see how they grow.

Hawthorn Berries

Along with the rosehips, these hawthorn berries are decorating the hillside now. I just realized this little tree has something to offer across the seasons.
See these links:
Blossoms
Summer shade
Autumn leaves
Berries and snow

I hope the birds enjoy the berries too.

This Just In...

Not bad for November 18th. Surely there are some stay-healthy vitamins in there. New crops of parsley are popping up throughout the garden, too. Some of this lettuce and chard came from the covered wagon cloche, some from out in the open.

I think it is Red Sails leaf lettuce that has been a star this summer and now. It doesn't get the bitter flavor some do. In the green, is Valmaine, I think. I've mixed together assorted seed mixes so it is a little of a guessing game. I think I'll try specific varieties next year. There are some beets in there too.

It has been an exciting garden blogger day, today! Stay tuned and you'll find out why.

Year 'Round Rose

This wild rose growns on our hillside (remember visiting our hillside retreat?). It is my kind of rose. Pretty pink blossoms, long arching canes and these lovely rosehips in the winter. It is also the home of Petunia's cousin. We have a path through this hillside pasture that goes by this rose bush. Often, a sunning garter snake would dart back in the brambles just as we walked by. DH doesn't like this, so I have to take the lead on this part of the path.

Here, I found the photos from this past May:

Wow! Look at all of that green too!

What's Blooming?

Just outside my back door is this beauty. Chocolate Lenzites, I think. It is growing in a split in the landscape timber holding the walkway stones in place. At other times, I've noticed some sort of growth here, but haven't noticed it looking so interesting before. It must be its favorite time of the year (wet, but not too cold).

See other NW beauties here: Blooming Lichen, Small Spaces I and Small Spaces II.

To see some real blooms around the world, visit Carol and her May Dreams Gardens Bloom Day post. See the comments to the post for all the other bloggers with blooms to share.

Baby Sprouts

Some of the sprouts are leaning to the west (to catch those last rays of sun, I guess). As I propped one up during my quick garden inspection today, I noticed the baby sprouts! (Ok, look closely.) Good thing, too, as I just found a Brussels sprout recipe I'd like to try. How much longer to harvest?