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

Apartment garden & fruit garden

It's been difficult to commit to maintaining a garden this year, and for the last few years. My gardens aren't a 5 minute drive or a walk out the back door anymore, so I have resulted to focusing on the fruit trees and fruit bushes. Also, I have been attempting to have a Fall garden at my apartment. 

The Kieffer pear trees are still growing strong. 

My blueberry and blackberry bushes are growing great, but the birds are eating all of the berries, and the briars have taken over my patch of fruit bushes and my old main vegetable garden. 

I used to grow a ton of different veggies and lettuces, pumpkins, corn, beans, tomatoes, but it is now but a wasteland of briars, grass, and tangled mess. 

Until I can totally devote my time to gardening like I used to, I won't be able to maintain anything but what I'm doing now. 

As stated, in my despair of not having plotted gardens this year, I have experimented with potting vegetables at an apartment. As you know from years past, much of my gardening has been a hugelkuktur garden on one property and a tilled garden at a second garden. Plus, I've kept a mini fruit orchard that I used to be proud of. 

Alas, time flies when you're having fun and working your ass off, so I'm happy to say that I will have a massive pear harvest; my peaches will drop to the ground and nourish the earth; the blueberries, grapes and blackberry bushes will feed the birds; fig trees will fruit as long as I keep looking at them; and I will try my best to water my apartment garden.

Pear fruit growing late June

Kieffer pears

Alberta peach...not looking to cute

Here I have taken pics of my rose, houseplants and veggies.

ABC ROSE

Houseplants 

I've been attempting to grow some summer vegetables in pots at the apartment. It's all very experimental, I've never done it before. I have 2 Cherokee beefsteak tomatoes, zucchini, cucumbers, radish, garlic and potato growing in my pots. I am trying to germinate kale and lettuce. I sowed Kale seeds (blue curled) variety on  July 9th 2024...these are 60 days till harvest, so that would be October 1st. 

Additionally, I sowed Lettuce seeds (grand rapids) on July 8th 2024. These are 45 days till maturity; sowed sparkler radish, 25 days till harvest, and bloomsdale long standing spinach which is 45 days till harvest and I'll be able to harvest August 22nd. 

Cucumber and zucchini plants

Obviously you can't see all of the houseplants in this photo, but they're doing the beat they can in these hot, hot months so far.

Tomato 

I can't show off my couple of garden gems without showing my grandmas beauties as well...

And some of my other snapshots from the beginning of Summer...

Blooming cactus