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October garden update

The larger and older leaves on the fig plants have started to dry up and fall off, which to me is a sign of fall. The plants are also sprouting new leaves at the same time. Figs are slowly ripening, and I’ve picked a few of them already.

The jalapeno plants continue to do pretty well, and I’ve already harvested several pounds of jalapenos. Looks like there’s easily several more pounds waiting to be harvested. I’m trying to resist the temptation to pick a bunch of them and letting them stay on the plant to turn red.

Three small red jalapenos and a small fig.
Three small red jalapenos and a small fig.

I thought the butternut squashes were done for, but there’s one plant that still seems to be hanging on, and has produced a few more butternut squashes that might get me a small late fall crop.

A small green growing butternut squash
A small green growing butternut squash
A small green growing butternut squash

A bunch of these grass/weed plants in the two empty beds that I’ve been letting grow wild put out a bunch of little flowers that have been attracting a lot of bees, butterflies and moths. It’s fun and relaxing watching them buzz and flit from flower to flower.

Wildflowers growing in an empty raised bed
Wildflowers growing in an empty raised bed

The little sweetgum sapling that sprouted up next to the jalapenos made me wonder what other tree-type thing I could get to grow in the garden. It’s the time of year when the live oaks around work drop acorns, so I picked up a few, buried some in one of the raised beds, and put a few more into an empty pot.

No idea if any of them will sprout, but we’ll see. It will be a nice surprise if any of them grow.

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A jalapeno harvest

Picked a few jalapenos today. There are a bunch of them on the jalapeno plants in various stages of growth. These were a pretty decent size and colour and looked ready for picking.

Also spotted a new butternut squash starting to grow. Hopefully this one sticks around.

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September garden progress

The jalapeno plants seem to be doing pretty well, and are recovering nicely after getting solidly munched by the tobacco hornworms.

Haven’t spotted any more hornworms on them recently, but there was this little green lizard hanging out on a jalapeno. Hope he’s finding lots of bugs to eat.

Looks like there will be a bunch of jalapenos to harvest in a few more weeks.

Jalapenos growing in the garden
Jalapenos growing in the garden

The butternut squash plants have been struggling lately and it looks like there might be just one plant left that’s still sending out runners.

Butternut squash plant in the raised bed

There have been a few attempted new butternut squashes, but they all ended up shrivelling up before getting very large. Might be time to pull the plug on this batch.

Some shriveling up butternut squashes

This mystery plant started growing in the bed next to the jalapenos a few months ago. I was curious to see what it would be, so I let it grow. The leaves look like maple leaves except for the serrated edges so I don’t think it’s a maple (I’d be very surprised if it was).

Mystery plant growing in the raised bed. Possibly a sweetgum tree.
Mystery plant growing in the raised bed. Possibly a sweetgum tree.

A Google Lens image search suggests this is a sweetgum tree, which seems plausible. I know there are a few of these growing in other yards around here

Late in July, the ornamental cherry tree out in the front yard surprised us with a big display of leaves on the lower branches. Then Tropical Storm Debby came, dumped a ton of rain on us. After that, all of the leaves shriveled up and dried up. I was starting to think that maybe all the water drowned the tree and that it was done for.

Dead leaves on the ornamental cherry tree
Dried up leaves on a drowned tree

Last week, the tree surprised me with some new leaf growth. Seems like the little tree might recover after all.

New leaf growth on the ornamental cherry tree
New leaf growth on the ornamental cherry tree
New leaf growth on the ornamental cherry tree
New leaf growth on the ornamental cherry tree

The fig plants continue to do well, and there are a bunch of figs now. They’re still pretty hard, and seems like it will be a few more months before any might be ready for harvesting.

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Tobacco hornworm

Found a bunch of these big fat green caterpillars monching away on the jalapeno plants. Google image search identified them as tobacco hornworms (manduca sexta).

Big fat green caterpillar perched on a plant munching away. Appears to be a tobacco hornworm.

Plucked 6 hornworms off the jalapeno plants (they have a pretty good grip for something so squishy) and flung them out into the road where at least 3 of them ended up getting squashed by passing traffic.

The caterpillars really did a number on the jalapeno plants. The jalapenos were looking big and bushy a couple days ago. The leaves from a big section of the top of the plants have been stripped off now and I had to prune off a bunch of half-eaten jalapenos.

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TS Debby

Looks like the week ahead is going to be pretty wet and soggy thanks to TS Debby. Current forecast has it slowing down as it goes through FL and GA and dumping a lot of rain on the area in the process.

Tropical Storm Debby forecast 04-Aug-2024
5 day total rainfall forecast from Tropical Storm Debby 04-Aug-2024

From the 11AM 04-Aug-2024 NHC forecast discussion

After the system makes landfall, the steering currents are likely to weaken as a trough over the northeastern U.S. moves eastward from the area, which should result in a decrease in forward speed.  There is significant uncertainty in the track of Debby in the 2-5 day time frame.  Much of the track guidance keeps the center over the southeastern U.S. for the next several days as a ridge builds in over the Carolinas.

The cyclone will weaken after it moves inland, but since the system will not be far from the coastline for the next few days, it is not predicted to fall below tropical storm strength through 72 hours.

Should be an interesting week ahead.