a taste of fall

for the first time this year we had a nice preview of autumn. we finally overhauled our summer vegetable beds and got in our seeds for fall. we added some compost to the beds that needed it.this was my grandmother's tool. my grandparents were farmers in indiana where my family spent many of our weekends and summers. they lived about 2 1/2 hours from our house in chicago. my sister and brother and i loved spending time outdoors exploring the back acres in search of animal skulls, old trees to use for forts, and any exciting creature or treasure we could get our hands on. i transplanted the basil bushes and a tabasco pepper into pots so i could give them some protection in the coldest winter weather, those couple times when it gets down in the 20's at night.

our last harvest of summer veggies, lots of lemon cucumbers, a couple regular cucumbers and one last jalapeno.freshly planted beds(with 2 more to the side)of a variety of lettuces, carrots, beets, turnips, brussels sprouts, broccoli rabe and spinach. hopefully i didn't get the beets and turnips in too late...

fern and hazel also loved the cooler weather, and watching out the back door for birds and love bugs. we did spot one hummingbird who looked in for a second then moved on.