Autumn days

 We have had a small vegetable garden for a few years, but, this Spring we expanded deciding to grow as much of our own healthy, chemical free food.  The only fertilizer I use is from what is produced here, rabbit and chicken manures are composted along with kitchen and garden waste.  As I feed the animals organic foods even our compost is chemical free.
We had some wonderful successes in the garden this year and made some dreadful mistakes.  It is all a learning curve and every year we should be able to make better decisions based on what grew well for us the prior year, what we like and what not to grow too much of.
I have started to clean up the garden, preparing beds to overwinter, planting next years garlic, feeding the soils with nutrient rich compost.  Next Spring I will not be digging any new beds, I hope our garden next year will be far superior to this year.  Isn't that part of being a gardener, always optimistic, always planning.

Such beauty in the dying

Never have I seen the wild apple trees bearing as much fruit as this year

 I started these Cosmos from seed, they were HUGE towering high in the garden, only problem was rain and winds would blow them over.  I was going to take them off my list for next year until I saw the bees clamouring on the many flowers yesterday.  These are one of the few flowers still blooming madly in October.  I guess next year I will plant again for the bees, just have to properly stake them to avoid them falling over.

My Fall salad planting is doing well, salads and kale daily

Seeing this yesterday makes pesticide free garden worthwhile.  Ms.Mantis is heavy with eggs and next Spring we should have a new family of Pray Mantis in the veggie patch helping us to keep those annoying insect pests under control.