Garden updates

It has been a long hot summer here -- after the May floods we have had little rain, and I am trying not to water too much. Given that, with enough mulching, the veggie garden has come through pretty well. The girls grew (okay, I did most of the work) these baby pumpkins -- the squash bugs loved them, but they still have a pretty good haul - this is the first crop that ripened.

Here is my Aloe - the first I've ever grown. It is so pretty and architectural - I wonder how it will survive in the house this winter.
And - here's my confession - I saw on a tv show that you can buy leeks and onions with their roots at the grocery store and plant them. Well, I tried it - and it worked! I have tried growing leeks from seeds and onions from starts and had terrible results - but the grocery store cheat completely worked! I am looking forward to potato leek soup in the dead of winter, and fresh onions on salads until snow is on the ground! Plus, they look pretty.

I grew these pretty dwarf peppers for Mary Clare - the colors seem to convince her they are worth eating - I planted one purple and one orange (purple did better) - and they are so pretty and prolific.

Ahh . . morning glories - one of my favorites. I planted a mixed packet of heirloom, old-fashioned varieties -- isn't this one pretty? I also have dark purple, light pink, and the solid blue ones.