Another Fall Garden Update

I suppose the cool, fall weather we received this weekend, invigorated the garden.  I know it invigorated me! 

The beginning of our fall garden has already brought some hope and discouragement.

But mostly hope.

We put in a new bed, full of good compost, mulch, straw, and garden soil, planted a row of cabbage, a row of brussel sprouts, and another row of cabbage.  This lone cabbage plant is the only seed that sprouted.  So.....this weekend I planted again.  I may be a glutton for punishment.

I have two very nice rows of squash.  They are coming up beautifully, but I can't tell you if this is butternut squash or acorn squash as two adorable little 19 month old garden nymphs playfully extracted several garden markers from my beds.  They're lucky they're cute...

Green beans and black beans are off to a great start, however, I have found several worms or caterpillars of some sort chewing on the leaves.  I never see them during the day, but find them every morning curled up inside a leaf, trying to cocoon, I suppose.  They're easy to squish that way, but the damage has always already been done.  I just hope they don't affect the beans!

A little row of garden peas.  I have never grown peas before, except this spring.  Dumb idea.  We live in Houston, so peas in a spring garden are a no go.  Darn this heat and humidity.  We shall see if the fall temps encourage a nice growth and harvest!

I planted more cucumbers and so far, so good.  I haven't seen any beetles or creepy crawlies this time.  Also, the leaves appear healthy and no disease.  We have eaten through a few jars of pickles already, and I need to replenish my supply for the winter months.  Plus, I want to try my hand at curing the pickles in my crock this time!

A pumpkin plant, this one isn't for eating, but for show.  My intent was to grow my own fall decorations this year, instead of buying them.

The satsumas are beginning to turn from green to orange!  I am so ready for the citrus harvest this year!

A couple of weeks ago I planted lettuce in this raised bed.  It did great in the winter/spring, so I am shooting for another great growing season.  However, I didn't factor in the cats.  They saw it as their own personal litter box.  Dumb cats.  Nothing sprouted.  After I cleaned it all out and replanted, I placed this bit of fencing over the top in order to discourage unwanted digging.  It's only been a couple of days, but the cats have left it alone.

What's going on in your fall garden?