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Welcome to my zone 9a habitat garden near Houston, Texas.

Friday, September 14, 2012

This week in the garden - #31

Finally! The rains came down this week. Yesterday, we got exactly three inches of rain. It came down hard and fast. I would have preferred slow and easy, but you won't hear me complaining. My garden and I were just happy to get it.

But that's not all. As I write this at 4:45 on Friday afternoon, it is raining again and this time it is coming slow and easy and it looks like it might last for a while. The weatherman even says that we may get more rain over the weekend. I had hoped that the autumn rains would come early this year. It looks like I may be getting my wish!

The fall veggies that I had planted over the last couple of weeks are coming along. The onions are doing well. The peas look perky. The winter squash looks a bit less perky, but it is surviving at least.

You may well ask if it isn't a little late to be planting winter squash. Well, it's a gamble. It takes 75 to 85 days to produce a harvestable crop, so that will take us into November. Whether or not the plants have time to produce mature fruit will just depend on when we get our first cold weather. Our first frost normally comes in early December, but winter has been rather unpredictable over the last three years. Will this year's winter be early and cold or late and mild? We'll just have to wait and see. Anyway, when was gardening ever not a gamble?  

I also got my 'Yukon Gold' potatoes planted. They are not up yet, but they should have plenty of time to give us some nice-sized potatoes. Soon I'll plant some winter greens and root crops like beets and carrots. Even if winter does come early, they can take the cold.

It's just one more week now until the Autumnal Equinox marks the official beginning of fall. Where did the summer - or, for that matter, spring - go? It all seems to be rushing by too fast. I guess that's what happens when you get to be a certain age.

I hope that you are happy with your age and that you are getting just the right amount of rain and sunshine in your garden. Happy weekend!

Autumn sage with Gulf Fritillary butterfly.

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