October harvest

An attempt at a still life.  The bottom photo has been enhanced with the Virtual photographer filter called 'spice'.  I do think it adds a bit of spice to the original. This is the harvest from my garden on Oct. 1.

more of the harvest still on the trees.  The fig is having its best year.  There are lots of grapes this year.  I am waiting for colder weather to make them sweeter.

 This is the verbena bonariensis.  It is said to be on the Washington State invasive plant watch list.  I can hardly believe it.  I want more of this easy care plant to grow in my front garden.  It is said to self seed easily.  I only have a one or two plants from an old old plant I once purchased.  I shall save the seed and plant it where I want the plants to grow.  I think it needs more moisture than it gets in my carefree front garden strip. This area has a ground cover of thyme, a season of tall daisies and achillea, then the michaelmas daisies bloom... now.  On the other end of this strip across the front I have lynchnis, under planted with pussy toes, with some dutch iris in the Spring.  This year I have added a yellow spot of black eyed susans and coreopsis.  There is the plum tree, a red currant shrub and a lavender.  The black eyed susan has a very long blooming period.  I need to establish more of them!

I renovated this path in the back garden by taking out the flat field stones and adding the stepping stones.  I added pea gravel to fill in and hope to get the Sicilian mint to grow and weed out everything else in the path.  This is the view of the path from the old sidewalk along beside the old garage, and looking towards the entry to the Japanese garden.  I have weeded this path up to the entry to the Japanese area where it also branches off to one of the entries to the vegetable garden.

I have weeded along the back behind the garage from the irises and germander to the end of the old sidewalk where it becomes the bark woodland path.  I have dug out the big leafed plant that was in the front and crowding out the Trilliums.  I have left this plant to grow at the back of the border beside a torch lily clump.  I have the new buddleia/butterfly bush planted in front of this clump.  I hope the thin leaves of the torch lily and the fat leaves of the other plant make a nice backdrop for the butterfly bush.  There are Saskatoon berry trees behind the tub garden, and then the irises, and germander.  There are a few cedars and a yew behind these two plants.  After I had the weeds taken out I put down about 6 bags of the good woodland compost I had liberated from the clean up of the Virginia creeper and St. John's worte in the spring.  The dry twig from this same operation in the Spring is making a very nice springy covering on the wood land path.  It should keep the path from being muddy in winter. 
It is dark by 7:00 now.  We had about an inch of rain last week, some high winds and cooler temperatures.  It is good gardening weather. I have quite a few jars of soup made and frozen.  This should free up some of my time to get outside. 
Of course there is always computer and camera stuff to play with, too. 
Last nite I was watching some depressing videos about the deepening of the depression.  The people living in the tent cities are really very sad and in dire circumstances, now.  There was talk of revising the whole global monetary system going back to a base of gold for all currency.  It was estimated that the US dollar would hold less than half of its present value.  The Chinese and the Oil barons are not much interested in financing the US wars any longer.  Of course, our dollar seems to be tied to the US buck and will probably slide down the slippery slope as well.  Although, our debt is no where near the proportions of the US.  Its all pretty scary.  Makes me want to buy a piece of land where I could raise some livestock and poultry... that will never happen, though.