I took a few photos of the beds.
I have a pretty good watering system. Wherever I can, I use sprinklers, and the rest gets watered by hand. The sprinklers help save time so I can get to other things that need to be done.
This week, I was preparing areas for my perennial plants that can be planted in the fall. I prepared five locations, and each plant I bought has some jobs to do.
The Lil Bang Coreopsis is on the north fence near the blackberries, and its purpose is to attract pollinators and serve as a nectar source for butterflies. The swamp milkweed is for monarch caterpillars and nectar for the adults. Joe-Pye weed is to help shade my rhubarb plants and be a late-season nectar source for butterflies.
Tomorrow, I will plant the two swamp milkweeds and then cover each planting location with multiple layers of boxes and a mulch of either aged chopped leaves, grass clippings, or straw on top of the boxes. If I have enough straw, that is what I plan to use, as it is better at suppressing weeds.
Besides planting, I also trellised the blackberries. I used two large cattle-panel-type cages that I cut with the Enforcer (bolt cutters), and surprisingly, they worked out really well. I used three 6-foot metal stakes and tied the panels a foot off the ground, which will help make tending the blackberries easier around the crown area. I used pipe cleaners to tie the vines to the trellis. They look very colorful and are easy to use.
Every day at the gardens, I did some harvesting. Some vegetables are declining, like okra and summer squash, but others are loaded with fruit. My one eggplant must have at least 10 fruits on it. The peppers and pole beans are also producing a lot.
I will close out this log, as there are always things to be done, and maybe by spring I will be ready for a new season.