Pretty Good Week, I Guess

We decided that if we can't get the stuff we usually grow to produce, maybe we should try something else. So we put in a fall garden--more radishes and beets, lettuce, and cabbage.  We got some cool, wet weather this week, so it seemed extra appropriate to be pretending it's spring.  The radishes and beets are starting to germinate already.
It was a very strange weekend.  Usually at this time of year, we pick pretty much all day Friday.  Then there's market on Saturday morning.  Saturday afternoon and Sunday are spent processing something--I think something should be pickled about now--and some relaxing.  This weekend was weeding and cleaning some garlic (most isn't ready yet) and actually cooking a little bit.  Shawn's reading a good book.  There's a gnawing feeling that things are being neglected.
I was able to eat several tomatoes this week.  Toward the end of the week the cherry tomatoes started to seem like they were operating as I expect them to--providing me a snack on every garden visit.  Fruit is setting nicely, and I think if it stays as hot as it's supposed to this week, there might be enough to do something with in two weeks.
The corn looks good--no complaints there.
The watermelon are sizing up.  We ended up with cantaloupe purchased from the youth authority at Hilgard.  I don't know what kind they are.  They seem pretty small, but are changing color.  If there's a ripe, yummy cantaloupe, I'll be happy.
The beets seem to be progressing slowly.  I've decided all they can want is water, so this week they'll get a ton.  We planted both red and golden.  The red germinates much more quickly, then grows faster too.  The goldens of the first planting look terrible.

It seems like we should be digging potatoes, but they haven't died back yet, so the potatoes are still growing.  I robbed a few out for a potato salad to eat this week at work, so can't yet report on deliciousness.  We planted the potatoes very late, which partly accounts for their longevity.  However, this is the first year we've really hilled them, and they are huge.  Of course, they are a plant that also likes cool, wet weather.  To many variables.  We'll see what the yield is like, especially since some are hilled better than others.

A couple of fine looking cantaloupes.

Our biggest beans, with its smaller cousins behind.

This is what quail do to tomatoes they can reach.

Yet another killed winter squash.  The gopher trap is set.

I don't know how high an elephant's eye is, but I suspect we're there.

The artichoke has tiny siblings now.

The wheat should be harvested by next week.

I get a lot of questions about basil.  We don't do anything special.  The two things that I think make a difference are that it's in FULL sun, and that I cut it back a lot every few weeks.  The little plant on the left was cut this week; the plant on the right is what it looked like before.