I do wonder if the squirrel knows something I don't know about this coming fall and winter. The weather turned chilly earlier than usual and I think this squirrel is looking for food as well as burying spots for his winter stash. I salvaged what I could to use in a couple of meals then built another little fence around that trough. I assume it was the little squirrel doing the damage. Afterward, I checked the kale trough and found several severed leaves and some half eaten stems. Then I put a stick fence all the way around the trough. I replanted those turnips, and I hope they'll take hold again. Then Thursday morning I caught a squirrel in one planter digging up the turnip plants. Whatever 'it' was, it didn't do a great deal of damage. The other day I noticed something had been on the deck and in the raised trough planters. This has been about the most frustrating gardening year in terms of dealing with critters. I'll be working on that part of the herb garden next spring, weeding and mixing in some compost in hopes of getting the output higher again. Our oregano harvest was not as good as previous years. I now have about 3 cups each of loose-packed dried oregano leaves and sage leaves. I cut both plants back as far as I dare go. It looks like this will be the last oregano and sage harvest for the year. In addition to drying plums I've also been drying herbs this week. Our cool September house benefits from the heated air spewed into the kitchen by the food dehydrator. This is the perfect time of year to be using our electric dehydrator. Once I finish harvesting the plums, I'll move on to digging potatoes. (Gee, I miss those days when I could just run out and pick up 1 thing when I needed it.) Our fruit bowl currently has fresh tomatoes, plums, and a couple of bananas. So the chutney-making will have to wait until I can get another grocery order placed. I also make chutney every fall, using plums, apples, raisins, and onions. This past week I made prunes, plum jam, plum pie, as well as served a lot of fresh plums in compotes, yogurt, and out of hand. The plums ripen over a couple of weeks, so I harvest and process over this whole period. (Remember that pillow-sized bag of frozen blackberries?) I have since moved on to the plum tree. We did indeed finish picking blackberries. This past week centered around and kitchen and garden.

Pokey super mario plush