Raccoon Update and Veggie Seedlings

 

Hoping this will keep the raccoons away!

Hallelujah! We finally have a solution to the raccoon  raids.  We put chicken wire on the tops of the short fences and I sewed them on with wire!!  Of course, now I can't get in them either but this was all the resources I had at the time, and I was desperate. I have replanted most of the seeds (3 times) and we are seeing new sprouts!

Bed 1, swiss chard, kale and beet

Bed 2 asst lettuce and radishes (this is the one I planted 3 times, they really wiped this bed out completely)

I am sure that more seeds will pop up where they weren't planted from all the digging the raccoons did and probably will also have seeds sprouting around the outside.  They threw so much soil out when digging that there will be seeds there too.  On a positive note, we are having wonderful warm weather to help my seedlings along.  I am hoping to have plenty of goodies for the Thanksgiving Day table.

Bed 3, Spinach, Rutabaga, Kohlrabi and Snow Peas (you can see where I reseeded, plants are smaller)

I have planted Brussel Sprouts along the bed next to the driveway. I purchased seedlings and these have been in about a month now and are doing very well.

 

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Anaheim, Poblano, Pimiento and asst color Bell Peppers in this bed. I am still harvesting every few days.

poblano pepper

poblano pepper

purple bell pepper

purple bell pepper

yellow bell pepper

Anaheim peppers

I have two Eggplant plants that have given me 4 eggplants so far.  I have 7 almost ready to pick and the plants are still setting flowers.  Seems late for these but they are thriving in the warmer weather we are having.

This plant has 5 just about ready for harvest

I will leave you with a few photos of my flowers blooming in the front beds.

Mexican Sunflower Torch Plant (tithonia rotundifolia)

The butterflies LOVE tithonia

Orange petite Zinnia

Cosmos (Sensation Blend)

Cosmos (Bright Lights)

 These orange and yellow cosmos are called Bright Lights and are from Botanical Interests. One of my favorite fall plants. They reseed freely (very freely) and come up each year wherever the seed landed the year before; and are a delight to see when most plants have finished blooming.  The finches love the seeds from these flowers and hang themselves almost up side down to get the seeds.  The weight of the little birds pulls down the flower and they hang there pulling out the seeds. I just love to watch them and keep plenty of these plants just for them.  They also love the lavender Cosmos for the seeds as well.

more Bright Lights next to the tithonia

Happy Autumn to all!

"Earth fills her lap with pleasures of her own." William Wordsworth

This line came to mind when I walked around the garden yesterday.  It was cold and wet to me, but so many of my plants looked happy.  The raised bed winter veggie gardens are thriving. I did need to cover them with plastic one night last week as the forecast was for 32 degrees; so very cold for us.  I am happy to report that it only went down to 34! Our area rarely has a temperature below 40 in the winter months and most nights range 42 and higher.

Mother nature on a rainy day....

Portulacaria afra (small leaf jade) bent by the wind and heavy rainfall.

Euryops chrysanthemoides

Our rose arbor blew down one day last week.  This is the second rose arbor I have lost to wind in this location. I think it is time for a new location.

Huddling together to keep warm on the Mexican patio.

Hiding out under the eaves. An Aloe plicatilis (Fan Aloe) and Aloe Vera, the medicinal plant we all use when injured in the garden.   Also a  Cleistocactus winteri forma cristata (the funny looking cacti in the back, left) and a Senecio rowleyanus (String of Pearls).

More huddling for warmth. Some of my geraniums and a few more succulents; a Plumeria, too.  I have two Christmas cacti that have been blooming since early November, that's one on the table with the pink buds.

Borage plant looking very happy. But..

the succulents are having a tough time.

Leaves have all fallen from the Liquid Amber Trees.

Mushrooms growing on an old Silver Dollar Eucalyptus stump.

One of four raised veggie beds.  This one includes green onions, red onions, yellow onions, sorrel, mesclun mix.

This bed has onions again, watercress, spinach, leaf lettuce, radicchio, oak leaf lettuce and endive.

Beets, Swiss Chard red and green and also Bright Lights chard

This bed of onions really got pounded with the rain.

That's it for me, my feet are getting wet, I am going inside!  Note to self...do not wear your leather Nike shoes on a rainy day in the garden.