The Hot July Truth

This is my garden after two weeks of neglect. Keeping up with a garden during the summer in our climate can be difficult at best and often impossible at worst. Neglect it two weeks and the impossible starts to surface.

So, I'll tackle it the only way I know how one small thing at a time. You can see where I started to make progress in the first three beds. Fall is just around the corner and the garden needs to be ready for all the great crops we can grow here in the winter. Here is a list of some I intend to grow

Winter crops for growing in Humid Zone 9:
beets, lettuce (all types), Brussels sprouts, broccoli, carrots, cabbage, Chinese cabbage, collards, mustard greens, turnips, spinach, peas, parsley, celery, garlic, onions, parsnips, radish, hmmm...Hope I didn't miss anything. If I did I'll add it later.

I'm going to add some rich compost that I've made during the year using house scraps, lawn clippings, and chicken manure. Then the beds will be ready to plant up with my winter crops. In my opinion winter is the best time for veggie gardening in Louisiana. Also this winter I'll be adding the final large bed with a pergola to my potager. The main structure of the potager will then be finished.

Here's some pics of a busy little bee loaded down with pollen I took today. I couldn't decide which photo I like best.

See if you can find the humming bird in the picture below. (Click to enlarge)