Found the mulberry tree! Food forest garden

I had the weekend off, so I took advantage of the nice weather to clean up the old garden, harvest some garden food and eat seasonal veg.

In the apartment garden, I've got some tomatoes and peppers still growing, as well as thr lime fruits maturing. The lime trees keep getting a black fungus on the leaves like soot. They also have been infested with white hairy bugs that I can't seem to ever get rid of. The same bugs were on our old Desert Rose bonsai no matter how many times we bathes in in peroxide or alcohol or just plain water and new soil. With that said, I'm not sure how much longer the lime trees have until they end up like our old bonsai.

Basil plants before a watering

With some Yellow squash, I made fritters mixed with flour, Ener-G egg replacer, nutritional yeast, salt, black pepper, onion & garlic powder. I also add a little miso paste and water to the mix and pour it in the skillet like batter. I serve these with chili crisps.

Yellow squash fritters 

While we've been cleaning the old garden, we came across some Ripe figs! They were delicious. 

Ripe Cold Hardy Fig

My second batch of fritters this week was with fresh cabbage and kimchi mix. I used plain flour, Ener-G egg replacer (not totally necessary- I just have it on hand), nutritional yeast (just makes it a bit cheesy), salt, black pepper, miso paste, onion & garlic powder. These were the best fritters I have ever made. These are really versatile, I've made them a million different ways. You can use zucchini, Carrot, potatoes, and probably any vegetable! I'm a southern woman, so anything fried is tasty to me.

I ate these with chili crisps again- chili crisps go on everything these days from Fried Kale to boiled potatoes.

Cabbage & kimchi fritters 

During the weekend off, I also went out of town to buy a Jackfruit. I wasn't on a mission to buy a Jackfruit, but, I had eaten a durian recently and felt like it was about time to endulge in another big tropical fruit that I don't always have access to eating. 

It wasn't the ripest it could have been, but it was pretty dang good.

Like I said, while we have been cleaning up the old garden, we picked a couple of Ripe figs, but we also managed to harvest more mulberries and pears 🍐 

Last week, I found my mulberry tree amongst the jungle of weeds. The only reason I realized what it was, was because of the berries on the tree. Otherwise, I'm sure I would have chopped it down completely! I'm not even sure when I transplanted this mulberry, and where I got it from! I'm sure it was a twig when I bought and transplanted it. Considering it's been nearly 5 years since I've planted anything at the old garden, I'm sure the mulberry has been growing little by little for the last 5 years, hiding and carefully becoming big and beautiful to produce its first batch of berries.

Mulberry tree growing berries in October 

Mulberry tree that grew for years with 
No care & maintenance

The mulberry survived amongst invasive
Ivy, thorns & other plants, growing 
Tall to reach the sun.

Second harvest of pears this year

Of course, I always like to stop by the fall scene every time I visit the grandparents. The gourds and colors are so inviting. 

September garden harvest & crunchy leaves in Fall

I have a love-hate relationship with Fall. Everyone gets that seasonal feeling in them- a mysterious urge to walk off... to go hide by a tree, feeling the crunchy leaves...

Fall has its perks: Little camp fires with cozy seating, changing moods that urge transformation or revelations... I've learned a lot about myself many times in how I have reacted and behaved in the Fall season. If you start a new school years with different or more peers in August and September, that's the same feeling...so, maybe there's an association there.

But, I encourage you to feel that uncomfortableness, if you have that seasonal urge as well. Garden plants tend to wither, wilt, and brown. But, the fall flowers will bloom vastly to say one last goodbye and hoorah! 

That's what I feel when I harvest these foods and enjoy some time outdoors, to say a final hoorah...

Garden harvest of squash, pears, cucumber

This was one of the second batches of beans and squash. 

Squash & green bean harvest

Vegan, coconut based pumpkin pie 🥥 🎃 

Kieffer pear picking

Cold hardy fig trees, fruiting

Sunset in September 

"The Grandkids" Scarecrow family decor setting

His name is Pumpkin head 🎃 

The Fall blues can set in, but give in to the temptation of decorating to help your shifting mood as the seasons change...dedicate a space that represents this change.

Fall decor setting

Peach & pears + Squash & gourds in August

Yesterday, I worked in the garden placing cardboard on each of my cushaw squash and gourds growing. I didn't take pictures of the cushaws, but here are a few of the little gourds growing...

Today, I investigated my other garden. I was not pleased. I hadn't been able to tend to it in months. It was out of control with weeds that were taller than houses. But, almost all of my peach and pear trees had fruit. 

There were probably hundreds of peaches, but the majority were rotten or rotting. 

Grandma canned the beans and potatoes I harvested last week...

Here I have harvested some cucumbers from the garden. 

I aim to pickle some of these cucumbers I harvested yesterday too. I was gifted some peppers, so I want to pickle the peppers with the cucumbers. 

Mulched Fall Garden, fig harvest, & Fall greenhouse beauty

 Last Friday was bitter cold. It was down in the 30 degrees F. In the evening, I made sure to cover the garden plants to protect them from frost. The next day, I uncovered them and heavily mulched the veggie garden. I was able to get a truck load of mulch to cover the arden of broccoli, cauliflower and kale. The remaining bit of mulch, I placed around the fruit trees and some fruit bushes. In order to mulch the rest of the fruit bushes, I'm going to need another load of mulch! 

Below are pictures of the veggie garden I mulched Saturday.

The greenhouse I went to to get the mulch, was colorfully decorated again, this time with some new flare. A couple posts back, I showed the cute fall settings at the greenhouse, but I'm adding more here..

I was also able to pick some figs too last weekend. Of course, they were delicious!