End of summer flowers

Some days the light is so pretty I just have to grab a camera and wander through the garden capturing the fleeting beauty.

 

 

 The parsley going to seed make a striking silhouette.

The always cheerful sunflowers.

The queen of the prairie looking suitably majestic.

The hollyhock that self seeded, and finally bloomed this year came in a huge variety of colours from palest yellow to darkest red.

 

Late evening sun through the Echinacea.

This calla lily was given to me about 15 years ago. Having no idea of what to do with it over the winter, I cut back the leaves and  put it in the basement in a dark corner.
The next spring after re soaking the pot the new leaves started to poke through the soil to reward me with another summer of beautiful leaves and flowers.
Every year since I have treated it just as casually, and every year no matter how late into the summer I return, as soon as I start watering it,  it pokes its new growth up. Except for a little compost to top dress it once in a while I do nothing else . I don't know what the experts advise and I'm not sure I want to know.
With the recent frost advisories it is time to cut back the leaves and find a cool dark corner to store it in for yet another winter.

 

The last few days have been cold and bitter, so soon I know all I'll have to remind me of this years garden here will be these pictures.

 

Hey pesto

It's that time of year when a frost alert is out, and the basil needs to be harvested.

 

This year instead of using a blender I used my newly acquired blender stick. It worked a treat.

Here is my how I do it from last year.

 

I now have my basil safely stored in the freezer to be used whenever I need it.

Better late than never

Sometimes I wonder when I get the garden up and running late in the season as I did this summer in Canada whether it is worth the effort of getting organised, getting the seedlings started and pampered and in the ground knowing that there is a likelihood of not getting any results in the short season we have here.
But the joy of eating home grown, non sprayed veges just minutes after harvesting makes it seem all worth while even if the harvest isn't huge.
This summer I started harvesting from the vege garden just about as soon as I arrived. There were the self sown peas and lettuces and the perennial herbs-chive, oregano, parsley and thyme.
I also managed to scoop up a few tomato plants cheaply from the local nursery, that were ready to harvest almost from the time I bought them, and have continued to produce all summer.

This tomato bush has been producing for the last 2 months, but has finally just given up. Though there are still a lot left to harvest. Fortunately I still have more tomato plants just starting to ripen their fruit. They are in pots, so when the weather cools down I'll at least be able to move them to a sheltered area.

The jalapeno peppers and the cayenne peppers are starting to ripen in their pots. When we leave in a few weeks, I'll do my usual trick of putting them inside, in front of a bright window, and let them ripen some more, then dry down over the winter. They will then be ready to crush and store on our return next spring.

The beans and peas finally produced a largish harvest a few days ago and lots more on the way. I only need a few more weeks of frost free weather before we go to make those worth their while starting.

Even the zucchinis are starting to produce. The lettuce are continueing to produce. I did have a big failure with the pak choi when the slugs devoured the complete row early on in their life.
The root bound cucumber seedlings I picked up from the nursery on our arrival made a strong come back, and have been supplying our salads for the last few weeks.

This harvest made it all worth the effort. It made a healthy contribution to a dinner party we had a few nights ago.