Ah, September!

TPP likes this month.  The 2017 version is typically enough driving us crazy.  First, it was way too cool, although any time you don't need AC in the summer, we be happy.  Now, it is hot again, and combined with a typical enough drought, it is sort of an insult added to injury, here in late summer.  Listen, our new Pinus bungeana is calling for water.
Yes, we consider the first half of September to be late summer.  And as some of you know this means TPP has an anniversary celebration: fish soup, in lieu of a birthday, and this year it is sobering to note that this is the 35th fish soup.  So as usual TPP pays the air fare from Maine to the Midwest for some seafood.  This year the process was interrupted by a red tide recall on 10 pounds of mussels (dang dinoflagellates!) but the timely replacements were excellent, so were the clams, and a certain craving was satisfied for awhile at least.  That being said Mrs. Phactor's contributions, fresh Italian bread and apple pies were excellent as always.  No one goes home hungry.  Oh, TPP was home!
The gardens are bone, bone dry!  Trees are dropping leaves and ferns withering into drought induced dormancy, which is hopefully not permanent.  Newer plantings need attention. Trying to raise some late lettuce and bok choi, but keeping it watered is proving to be quite a chore.  Some bell weather plants have been watered 3 times since our last significant rain.  At  least the number of mosquitoes has declined to a tolerable level due to the dry.  Football has started and already Chi-town is playing for draft picks.  Baseball continues beyond all reason.  Play the world series already!  

Kitchen garden - late summer, early fall

In late September there isn't much to do with your kitchen garden except clean up and recap. On the whole it was an OK year, considering all the garden neglect, but why the zucchini stopped producing while still healthy is a mystery. Tomatoes are just about shot although those magnificently indeterminate grape tomatoes will keep making a few fruit. Looks like a few late eggplant and peppers will be produced as well because they recovered somewhat from the blighty conditions. Late pole beans are just about ready to pick and maybe a few snap peas will make it too. The big surprise were the cucumbers which are still making some fruit. Usually the bacterial wilt nails them in August. No idea how these escaped, maybe it was a bad year for the beetle vectors. The wet spring and early summer may have aided the milky spore fungus that attacks beetle larvae because the Japanese beetles were not all that bad and June bugs were uncommon. 
Some fall lettuce will be ready soon, but the bloody squirrels dug up all the spinach, a downside of container gardening. This time of year the squirrels dig up everything. And now, as announced excitedly by the kitty-girls, they have partners in crime, a pair of chipmunks, which are rather unusual around here especially in town. So far no problems have arisen from their residency, and they are plenty cute.  Guess the gardens are wildlife friendly so long as the kitty-girls remain inside or on a leash, a binary choice.
Unfortunately a lot of lawn remains to be mowed and it has to be done before going to a dinner party later. Yesterday was spent digging holes, planting trees & shrubs, and watering those and other newish plantings before a dinner club wine and goodies party. The weather is quite beautiful in terms of temperature, but it's dry, dry enough to create a lot of early leaf fall, and so mowing will kick up a lot of dust and spores so TPP's sinuses and eyes will suffer. Apparently margaritas are an remedy.