Well, since my last posting, my fava beans filled in quite nicely. The squirrels got a few, but there are plenty in the bed—and I never did replant.

I’ve been having garden parties with lots of fantastic garden favors that will make my fellow plant geeks green with envy.

I’ve gotten my seed garlic in the ground.

I signed up for a CSA program. And, I’ve pondered Michael Pollan's latest political food article.

I preserved the last of my lemon verbena to take me through the winter.

and I’ve gotten the last of my fall/winter veggies planted and a ton of fall clean up completed. Of course now that the leaves are flying off the trees, there’s a whole other clean up project ahead.

There’s a lot more I could list that’s happened in the last 43 days, but that’s a pretty good outline.

I’m really excited for next week when I’ll attend the Seattle Tilth Taste, Toast, Twirl Fundraiser!. I’m donating a garden coaching session to the door prize/raffle. And, my best friends will be premiering their Domanico Cellars wines in the tasting!

I amend the bed regularly with worm compost, but it still has issues. My neighbor’s Ash tree is sucking up a lot of the water, and I know that’s not helping. And, the bed has been planted consistently with food crops for almost 8 years now—with nitrogen fixers added to the mix regularly. Still, more work is needed.

So…yesterday I got out there and pulled out almost everything in the bed, cut in a bunch more worm compost and planted up fava beans.

I did a longer write up on preparing fava beans plant up and another on nitrogen fixation. Enjoy!

Following are a few things you might enjoy:
- Tomato and sandwich recipes, plus thoughts on throwing out food
- Controlling Leaf Miners—those suckers love to hit our fall leafy green crops!
- A Plant Geek’s favorite way to control fruit flies the kitchen

and this month’s American Family News by yours truly on Yoga for Gardeners. I hope it helps you find ways to stretch out and relax after a hard day in the garden.

Enjoy!

I’ve had not-so-summery summer weather, making some gardening things great (like corn not having to water much) and others (like tomatoes and cucumbers) awful.

I’ve met cats with garden palaces and seen my first black squirrel.

I’ve read some great books realized I don’t want to climb giant trees.

I learned that the EPA wants to ban waterfeatures in new “green” garden construction, and my resident hummingbird illustrated why these waterfeatures actually prove useful (where the EPA says they aren’t).

I’ve made mistakes.

I’ve learned a lot.

I’ve questioned% I’ve answered.

It’s been a busy summer, and it’s not over yet. Actually, the sun is out and it’s about 70 out there, so why in the world am I sitting in front of a computer when I should be outside? Hmmm..I think I’m headed that way now…and I promise I’ll try to write more frequently here!

(Sorry I haven’t been posting much lately. Spring has been really busy, leaving me little “in office time”. You will be glad to know that I wear my gardentenders t-shirt often on gardening jobs!)

Chers