Patience

Because you were so patient, I decided to go ahead and load up my riveting photos of yesterday.
These are the spinaches coming up outside the door. In the other pot, I planted a lettuce mix from Burpee.

This is the granola I made. Yummy! 4 cups oats, 2 cups puffed rice, 1/2 cup sliced almonds, 1/4 oat bran and 2T brown sugar. Pour over that a mixture of 3/4 cup pineapple juice, 1/4 cup apple juice that has been reduced to 2/3 cup and then 1/4 cup of honey dissolved in it. Pour the liquid over the dry stuff and mix well. Put on a jelly roll pan (with a little oil or non stick spray on it) in a 325 oven and stir every 5 or so minutes for 25-30 minutes or until things look like they are toasting. Don't let it go too far or it will burn pretty easily. Add the raisins after it cools. Store in an airtight container. I'll be having this with homemade whole milk yogurt and some of the last raspberries of the season for breakfast.

Cho, turn away and don't look. Or at least prepare yourself.
This is a garden spider. I have one in this same spot every year. Normally I see her on the first of September or thereabouts. I don't know if spiders live more than a year. I suspect not, but it is uncanny how it is always there this time of year. It was a good day for this spider because she was munching on something. If things go as usual, we will have an egg case somewhere about before the really cold weather sets in.

I dug out our old compost pile this morning. Wow. Compost is some good stuff - gorgeous and rich and squirming with all manner of life. I mixed it into the beds where I was planting more spinach, some kale and more of the mixed lettuces. Then I did a half assed job of turning more into the bed that is going to get the garlic along with some of the straw leftover from the potatoes. I also put a bunch on my asparagus bed. The asparagus bed is getting special treatment this year as I didn't get any asparagus last year. I think I haven't been feeding it enough. Apparently it is a heavy feeder. So I didn't harvest any of the spindly spears and left the bed alone, other than weeding and feeding this summer. Well, I watered it a bit. I'll try to continue to be diligent. Maybe it will forgive me an send up big fat tasty spears next April.

I am already starting a list of things I need to grow next year. I think I will try sweet potatoes again. I spent some time today working on planning for ducks. I have decided that they need to be in the garden. Or at least that is what I think right now. I think the chickens will be mobile. We have work for them to do in other areas of the yard and having them on the go will be good. I am hoping we can put them to work cleaning up some of the MASSIVE amounts of chickweed (or whatever it is) that takes over our wooded area like a great tide of pale green slime in the spring. It really does have the look of the pond has receded and left this goopy stuff all over. But if it IS chickweed, then what better to do with it than let the chickens scratch it up and eat it. I am all for it.