Bountiful Blooms & Lavish End Of The Summer Season Harvest

It is day 77 of having our community garden and it has truly surprised us. We feared that because we started so late in the growing season we would get little by this point in time. Though the soil wasn’t deeply tilled, fertilized and treated with layers of compost and many other nutrition it would fall flat, however it has grown well enough that we are enjoying its benefits daily!

The tomatoes are ready for picking every day right now. I am grateful for the tomatoes because it did cause some fretting when we weren’t able to getting them staked and caged ( none in any of the stores near us) at all. We ended up using twine and wooden poles to the best of our ability.

I had never grown the really big tomatoes before so I wasn’t expecting them to fall nearly to the ground as the vines produced so many very large fruits. I also could have spaced them apart a little further to provide adequate space so the sunshine could hit the soil beneath them. They also may have been getting over watered with over head waters from neighboring garden beds as well. Despite it all, they have fared well enough and we are having fresh salads, salsa, and other dishes with them!

Our compost bin by Geo Bin is pretty amazing. There is a large composting area pile among the community garden beds but it is a little far from our garden and we don’t have a wheel barrow we can haul back and forth. This bin allows us to remove weeds and spent plants quickly. We add dirt, grass clippings, and scraps from our kitchen and it’s already breaking down and becoming nutritional dirt for our garden in such a short amount of time that we will be adding to our garden as its completely ready.

My husband and I really like how easy this bin is to set up and that we can adjust it from thinner to wider ( up to 4ft) with ease. It’s affordable and easy to pack up and store away when and if needed. I like this model is affordable and fret not if someone did decide to walk off with it ( gardens are not gated or locked) compared to a much more expensive model.

The Cosmos Mix, Marigolds, Nasturtiums and Sunflowers I sowed are in full bloom. I love the cheerfulness they bring to the garden bed. They have been frequented by all sorts of pollinators such as bees, butterflies and many others.

The Cosmos seeds I purchased from a company called Seed Needs off Amazon are well worth the investment. The variety is excellent and it has been exciting to see what color will pop up next! They have given the garden edge a great pop of color and it gives a bit of a barrier between our garden and the frequented walking path. Many walking by have said they love the colors.

The Marigold seeds I literally scattered all over the garden. The seeds are from those that I grew over 3-5 years ago. I am happy they are growing so well. In fact, they are growing better than any Marigolds I’ve ever had. I likely will never grow these flowers from purchased starts again. The great thing is these are easy to collect seeds from once dried out and finished blooming. The seeds look like little paintbrushes and come off in huge bunches. My oldest daughter likes collection them.

The Nasturtiums are everywhere and that’s a good thing. This vine flower will spread well and and is known for helping repel certain pest from the gardens. Some people also add these to salads.

Back when I had chickens, I would grow these outside of the coop and it looked so pretty. These flowers are blooming and seeds right and left. The seeds sort of look like little garbanzo beans and very easy to pick off the plant or off the ground below. These specific seeds are about 3-5 years old so it’s certainly a long lasting flowering plant that will keep on growing and giving as long as you make sure to gather those seeds.

Sunflowers are my favorite, did you know? I planted some from seed and the others came up from a few stray bits of birdseed! Yes, my porch herbs were transplanted into the garden and a few stray black sunflower seeds from our bird feeder sprouted and came up!

I can’t wait till these seed. I hope I can get to them before the birds and squirrels do! I hope to grow a few more next year in some carefully thought out places.

Not pictured but growing and reaping are our crops of Kale, Zucchini ( We’ve gotten two in a last couple of days from two plants… more are coming!), Brussel Sprouts, Peas, Winter Squash, Melon, Beets, Lettuce ( we pull out a head to eat every few days or as we need it), and many cucumbers..