Fall Harvest

Butternut Squash, hot peppers, yellow squash, bell peppers and eggplant from our gardens

With the temperatures cooling down the plants are thriving again and the bugs are eating less of our harvest, that's good news as we get to enjoy the fruits of our labor from the towers and VGS (vertical garden system) and are also preparing to harvest papaya's from our raised bed gardens on the opposite side of the house.

Collard greens (far left), Kale, Eggplant, parsley and chives, and then bottom right is the yellow squash with microgreen salad mix in the upper part of this tower

Okra, basil picked for drying, eggplant and small green tomatoes

Colander full of hot peppers, middle photo of veggies, and yellow squash on the right

VGS  after cleaning out pots of old growth and trimming the herbs that are loving this growing system. I'll be starting more seeds to put into the empty pots here.

With this first season of growth under our belts, we have experience to go with the reading we've done for growing in this climate.  Though we still have a lot to learn, we' haven't done bad for our  short time here and what we've been able to produce.  We're hoping to continue increasing our skill level and our production for our family and to share with others, as we continue to learn to grow in our hydroponic systems and raised bed gardens.

Raised bed garden on the side of house

Our two lemon grass plants started from bases of lemon grass I bought to use for a recipe, are both doing really well.

We have two papaya trees both are producing a lot of fruit for their first year in the ground.  These papayas will be right pretty soon.  Upper right box has a photo of our jalapeno plant that is REALLY producing a lot of peppers right now.  I cut them and freeze them in bags for use in my salsa later.

My goal is to really have an abundance of fresh fruits and vegetables producing year round in our own yard and to freeze for the months they aren't producing.  Next, I need to put into use my canning equipment as I tackle this new challenge to put food into storage using this method of preserving our harvest.  Stay tuned!!!