August is a busy month, I’ve been working on cleaning the backyard and hauling loads of woods and trash left by the previous owners to the landfill, and still have a few more loads to do. The backyard used to be the dumping ground for them and in time I’m sure it will break down and become part of the land but I certainly couldn’t sit and watch it happens.
The ducks and chicken love their new home.
The okras are doing very well this year, the plants are over 5 foot tall and bearing plenty of pods. They grow so fast and I have to harvest almost every other day. I only get to see the flowers open on the weekend, not that they don’t open on the weekday. The flowers open during the daytime while I’m at work, so by evening they already close.
When I visited the farmer’s market they harvested them very young, even smaller than the one below. I think this is a good size for me.
I missed several days of harvesting and the pods are too old, I’ll have to save these for next year’s seeds.
It’s at the end of the season for the cucumbers, it doesn’t look pretty now and the plants are drying out.
If Bo doesn’t take the ripe cucumbers for the ducks and chicken first, I’m saving them for next year seeds.
The Asian long string bean seems to be doing well in this area, Bo’s mom gave me 1 plant and it’s thriving. I will have to plant more next year and have a few seed pods left.
My watermelon is not doing well. I was looking forward to seeing this one grow and the end rotten several weeks back. I’m not sure if we had too much rain in our area. I have a few that’s a good size and they split open in the center. I will have to learn more about growing watermelons.
I have high hope for this one and hope to be able to harvest soon.
The peppers are doing well and have plenty. I will have to start harvesting them and freeze them for the winter.
I have a new addition to my garden, it’s called Duranta Erecta (sapphire Showers) and will grow 10 to 15 feet tall.
I stopped by the farmer’s market several weeks back and have never seen one like it before, the selling told me it was a butterfly bush and I paid $25 for it. The photo below was taken by my sister with her cell phone. It’s an evergreen plant with dark blue flowers edged in white and the yellow to orange fruit in summer and fall. The plant attracts hummingbirds. It’s fast growing, so can’t wait to see its beauty.
Nye Noona 
Hi Nye, your garden’s looking great. Congrats on the harvest. Do you preserve your produce? I’ve never heard of the butterfly bush before. The flowers look nice.
Thank you Ngeun, there are lots of gardening chores and it seems that the weeds grow a lot faster than I’m able to weed them. I freeze my peppers, the rest I give away to my sisters. I need to can them for the winters. I have two butterfly bushes, but this one is a strange looking one and has pretty flowers.
HI Nye,
Your garden has come along so fast in such a short time! So nice to see you enjoy working on your garden and adding a little bit of new plants here and there. And that purple flowering tree is so pretty! I’ve always loved purple flowers because they seem so rare. Btw, watch our when growing Okra as I’ve read that it was mistaken for a different kind of that plant ; )
Thank you Bree, I’m looking to redo the layout this Fall, I was in a hurry that I didn’t notice the slope of the land and the water/rainfalls wash all the garden soil downhill. When the Okra plants got bigger, I noticed that it looked like the MaryJane plant also. My garden is in the woods, hope they don’t come to visit with the K-9, they’ll scare the ducks for sure.
Btw, has Bo made plans to keep the ducks and chicken warm this winter? The country home has come together so fast and almost resembles a small farm. And sorry to hear about the watermelon. I heard watermelon like to grow on sandy soil, possibly for better drainage. As with everything in life, we live and learn. I hope next year you document more of your gardening adventures. Happy Autumn : )
Bo said that the ducks are outdoor and will survive the cold but we’ll have to make some shelter for it in case we get some snow. The hen house is too small to fit all of them.