Fall Gardening

This is another first attempt - Brussels sprouts.

We picked one red cherry tomato yesterday. That's a first and a very welcome addition to the Phoenix gardening experience! There are lots of others coming along so we should enjoy fresh tomato salads this fall until it freezes. Our weather is still in the 50's to 80's so the plants are happy. They have completely overgrown the wire cages shown in the October post.

Zucchini plants are finally up. As you may recall from earlier posts, we had trouble with birds picking the sprouting seedlings out of the ground, followed by trouble with germination, followed by placement of a net over the area which we left until the plants were finally big enough that the birds would ignore them. They look healthy and will soon blossom, but need to hurry or the first frost may rob us of zucchini. You can also see the broccoli off to the right of the picture (Brussels sprouts in the middle, garlic in the foreground). We also have peas about six inches tall in another part of the yard. I love all the different colors of green in the garden, the miracle of how things grow and the anticipation of eating fresh food from our very own back yard. And of course the broccoli, brussels sprouts, and peas will all continue to grow through the winter even with our occasional frosts, and then when the weather warms in spring we will have sweet prolific vegetables to eat.