Oh btw, the above rabbit was all alone here, no mate around since it was just a bunny last Spring, so I transported it to a nearby cornfield/woodsy area where it should have many friends to play with. On the garden front, I picked 2 tomatoes today and the sun is shinning after a week of cool dizzily gloom. The rest of this week should be all sunny days & 80F.

Sounds easier than my caging Wayne, thanks. Today I used my long fruit picking pole and scooped up another 15 perfect huge pears, not a blemish on them and they were on the shady side of the tree so were still a light green. We have 3 watermelons in the garage fridge and as they are vacated they'll be replaced with more pears, hope to have about 70 in the fridge to last up to New Years, maybe? Of these 3 trees there must be at least 200 nice looking pears waaaay out of reach. We've been giving them away like crazy but many end up in the com[post or as deer snacks late at night. The deer are welcome as they save me a lot of picking up and it distracts them from the fall crops.

Sorry to say that the last tomatoes are in the pipeline now, the late plants took it on the chin during last weeks stretch of cool drizzle, late blight has run rampant now. Peppers are still going strong, I pulled the eggplant, had enough, ha, must have picked over 15 from that one plant this year. The persimmons are getting a slight blush to em', probably another month to go on those. Carrots, collards, cabbages, and turnips all look good so far. I watered the late sweet potatoes today and the rest of the fall crops will get a good soaking tomorrow.

A nice mild spell here with 50's/70's for the fall garden, may get a good rain on Saturday. Still picking pears but the easy ones are gone. Loads of big pears turning yellow that are >25' up and out of reach. Thinned out the turnips yesterday and have removed all anti-rabbit cages from the cabbages and carrots. Collards are getting close to picking size, no frost yet. Might get 1-2 more tomatoes. Persimmons have a nice orange blush, may be ready in 2-3 weeks.

Cindy, did you like the paw-paws?

This past week I have harvested the early potatoes and the sweet potatoes. Both were very good. I have also harvested 27 butternut squash and the gladiolus corms. I did a bit of leafing too...mow chopping then up very fine and spreading on the garden.

We got about 2/3rd inch of rain yesterday and a warming trend is expected in the coming days. Still the lows are only in the 50's so no frost is in sight for some time to come. Long range looks warmer than normal. Still picking the last of the pears, some are still greenish on the north sides if the trees. Persimmons are close to picking as they orange up.

Collards are pickable now, carrots & turnips are close to maturing, the cabbages are slow but should start the heading process soon, esp with the coming warming trend. Dang squirrels are pock marking our yard as they steal my neighbor's pecans to bury. He never gets any decent pecans so those trees are a waste of time and space.

Sorry, vgkg. Forgot all about the Paw-paws. That's how memorable they were. Not impressed and doubt I'll concern myself with them except to maybe offer them to people who have never tasted them. There were only four of them this year and they do not keep well at all, not even in the fridge. End of review.

Ha, yeah Cindy paw-paws didn't make much of an impression here either. Holy Guacamole the high temps are in the 80's for over several days now. I picked the first turnips today and will thin out the carrots later. The cabbages are finally folding their leaves up. The first collards were tender and delicious. Will dig up the late sweet potatoes on Monday before a Cold & Wet Halloween hits here....What's in your garden?

Paws -paws are a southern Mississipi thing. I had a few when I was a kid. My impression of them was like a banana. No they don't keep any better than a banana would.

Okie HU

Come on now folks, I know that yawl have gardens out there ;-) ...and just to prove to you that I'm not making stuff up....

My carrots & cabbages...

My collards...scattered about...

The sweet potatoes.....some dirty ones in the background just dug up today....

The turnips....a bit wilted in todays heat...some fencing to keep the hen out....

The last of the peppers, they'll all need to be picked before frosty Weds morning...

The last of the pears, just out of reach....

...and the persimmon tree fully loaded down....picking starts later this week...

Here's some of my fall plantings ;

Green beans on the left , green peas on the right , some brasiccas in between.

Greens assortment in the right tunnel , turnips ,carrots ...

We just had our first hard freeze down here . I got both tunnels covered with row cover right now. Will uncover in a day or two when it warms back up and see how it all made out.

Okie HU