What a weekend! I did a flying trip to Fredericksburg to see my cousin and her husband. They are in the midst of illness and crisis and putting one foot in front of another. I was able to visit and cook a couple meals for them and their son, daughter-in-law, grandson, and a friend who were there Saturday when I was. I stayed over and came home Sunday.

Last week’s garden–I ripped out the basil and a bunch of the zinnias as they were not fit for bouquets–seedy and spotted.
Labor Day was a garden day for me. There was weeding in the new AFAC plot. The covers over the broccoli, cauliflower and kale needed weeding inside, so I did that. I fixed the borders for the small AFAC plot that had been taken out by the bus accident, and asked my gardening neighbor, Mike, whether he would hoe up the small garden and add compost. He said yes! It’s so good to have help.

Last weekend, I built an unstable wall between the mulch pile and the new AFAC garden.
I worked in my own garden, where I had some carrots, a zucchini and an okra pod as well as some flowers.

And some red peppers along with the zucchini and okra and carrots. Also, likely the last good bouquet of the summer!
I ripped out most of the zinnias. It was sad, but I was merciless. I have them for bouquets for the house and to feed the pollinators. I felt a bit guilty pulling some out, but there are still a lot of other flowers in the garden, so I didn’t feel too bad about the bees and butterflies.

This is the garden now, with the zinnias gone, except for the ones I trimmed, and the fall plantings under rabbit proof covers.
I planted a few things–more arugula, some rapini, some lettuces. I hope to keep the garden going into fall. The rabbits (one of which I chased today) are just awful, so I have created rabbit proof shelters for much of what I planted. I know they don’t bother the arugula; the rapini sprouts, which are not under cover, may be subject to their depredations. We’ll see.

Once the okra gets good sized, the rabbits don’t bother it. Looks like I’ll have more pods this week!
I’m looking forward to peas this fall. They are planted in what I normally call the bean enclosure–safe from rabbits and voles. We’ll see how they do. So far, so good.

Yay for the peas! And some resurgent mint at the edges. Actually have a pasta recipe that calls for both.
The okra is happy again, with a bit of water. I only have two pods so far this week, but it looks as though there will be more, and I’ll just add them to a zucchini saute.

These are my kale, cauliflower, and broccoli plants, under protective custody…
If you pray, meditate, send good thoughts out to the universe–please add my cousin Allison and her husband, Bob. She’s in a fight for her life after treatment for a brain tumor and he’s doing all he can to help day to day and advocate for her with medical personnel. The treatments knocked out her blood system and red blood cell production. We’re hoping for recovery from the treatment and some good time for her.

This is the new AFAC plot, with the small plot in the background. I fixed the small plot’s border today.
I hope you have a good week!
Enjoyed the tour of your garden! Many hopes for your cousin to recover.
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Thanks so much!
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Sorry to learn about your cousin Allison’s health struggle, I will send some light her way.
Looks like you are set for fall crops, Lisa. Everything looks neat and tidy. 🙂 Send that wascally wabbit packing!
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I chased it tonight, but it knows when nobody is there. I hope it doesn’t like the crops I’ve left uncovered. And thanks for thoughts for Allison!
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I will keep Allison, and Bob, in my thoughts and prayers, Lisa. Wishing her a speedy recovery, and a full, vibrant life ahead.
We haven’t had problems with rabbits here, just mainly deer and gophers.
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Deer and gophers are bad enough! Thanks for keeping Allison and Bob in your prayers.
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Lovely and what fun.
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It’s a good way to spend a few hours outside.
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It’s a lucky cousin you have. I am growing more fond of zinnia .
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Thanks, Sylvie.
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It is nice to read that you take care of polluters. Without them there will be no life. You have a great garden. We feed rabbits at wintertime, putting hay to the yard and then snow jumped full of cute foot prints.
Praying for your friends.
Kristiina
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We do worry about our bees and have a hive in the garden. I fed a rabbit one winter that was more like the winters you have, but it was with carrots. Most of the time, they can eat throughout the winter without too much trouble. Thanks for your prayers.
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You have been busy – with good results; I do wish Allison and Bob well.
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Thanks, Derrick.
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That’s such rough news, about your cousin! We have a neighbor is a similar fight and I am amazed at how well she is managing–so I hope Allison can bounce back and enjoy more time, too. Your gardening goes on and on–here, people are starting to batten down the hatches for the year!
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We’re lucky with our long seasons fro growing here. Really it’s Dec-Feb that’s usually fallow. Of course, no tomatoes during that time, but there are other things.
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So very sorry to hear about your cousin. I hope that the treatment works and that she recovers completely.
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Thanks, Laurie!
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I’ve been thinking of you and your cousin Lisa and I’m glad to hear you managed to get there for that flying visit 🙂 I shall continue to hold the picture of you jumping with joy at the good news of her complete recovery. Good luck with those naughty bunnies – it seems there is one more determined than the rest ……
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Thanks for the visualizations! The bunnies are quite evil. Well, voracious. Maybe not evil. I’m quite pleased to be planting for fall. The summer garden had done its work!
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That’s a lot of work!
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Yeah, but I enjoy it. It gets me out of my head.
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Great attitude! 🙂
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Oooh, I saw so much zinnia and cosmos in the Mekong delta, and thought of your garden. The new plot is looking great!!! So glad that one has come into the AFAC fold. Wishing your family all the best; so glad you were able to help out.
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Thanks, Jane! Mike is going to turn over the small plot and compost it. I fixed the log border on Monday, so it’s ready for that. Not fenced yet, but the fence nearly killed me a couple times, so I may just create more chicken wire rabbit proof cages. Not sure…
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Oh, Lisa: I’m sorry to hear of your cousin’s battle, and will say a prayer for her and her husband. These are challenging times for them, as we well know.
On the matter of the garden: how did you fashion those protective devices? The smaller ones especially look very well done. We are also plagued with those sweet, limpid-eyed devastators, and if you ever read my new gardener memoir you will discover two whole chapters on our “relationship” with rabbits!
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Thanks for the prayers, Cynthia. I really appreciate new voices in this. As for the rabbit shelters, I just used chicken wire and shaped it to whatever I was covering. You just need good wire cutter scissors and good gloves. If you have hoops for row cover, you could get some flexible plastic fencing that looks a bit like bird netting and cut it to fit over things with the hoops looped through the fencing. Of course it all needs lots of hardware cloth staples to hold it down. The nice looking cover I got from Gardener’s supply, which sells wire cloches for single plants and the nifty cover I bought. They’re made in France, lovely looking and cost more than my covering needs would allow. For now, chicken wire and soft barrier fencing are my solutions!
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I am fascinated that you have rabbits in an urban environment. They are such a pest.
I really loved the okra it looks so healthy – actually the whole garden looks great. We have just moved into springtime here and I’ve just planted spinach, lettuce and leeks. I will be interested to see the change in your garden as winter approaches.
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Oh, we have the whole boatload–foxes, coyotes, deer, raccoons, possums. I once met a coyote on a path behind my building on a winter evening. It had a rat in its mouth. I forgot about the squirrels, but a red-tailed hawk has taken their population way down. I wish it would eat the rabbits too. Good luck with your garden. I planted leeks a few years ago and really enjoyed them–and just planted lettuce and spinach again for fall. Sometimes the garden does well in fall and sometimes not. Weather will tell.
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Good luck to your cousin. I thought I was learning to speak American but I had to look rapini up. Sounds fat too healthy to me.
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I see you everywhere; why have I not stopped by before? Or have I? It’s getting to that time of life. 😉 I love those community gardens. It does seem somewhat vulnerable there. I think I would plant for the deer and rabbits if I knew they would come eat so I could watch them. I know very little about veggie gardening. I had nasturtiums that I had to rip out. They had something on them and were leggy. My first experiment with them. I’ll keep good thoughts for your cousin. Flying down to lend support and cook a couple of meals can be a Godsend to people in crisis. It may not seem like much to some but worth it’s weight in gold who are on the receiving end.
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You know, I saw you, too, and thought I followed you after Alys visited last spring, was it? I went and read some posts and then I saw you again and said, “Why haven’t I been seeing her posts?” so I went back, and obviously had NOT been following you! Thanks for the good thoughts for Allison. Her situation is worse, with palliative care and probably hospice following, but that means more good thoughts are even better. It’s good to hear that visits matter because sometimes it does seem so little.
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I’m hoping to be more aware this year of my blog and explore more too. I’m sorry to hear about your friend and little thing do mean more than you know. Hospice is wonderful in their care. I’ve had experience with them. It’s the left behind that have the hardest time. Hang in there.
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It looks great! The zinnias are wonderful!
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I do love the zinnias. with all our dry weather, they’re just about done for the year.
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I saw your comment at Maria’s, about the orchid. Then I saw ‘Fredericksburg’ and wondered if you might be another Texan. I still haven’t figured out where you are, but you have a lovely blog, and your gardens are beyond glorious. I don’t garden at all, but perhaps next spring I’ll explore some of the community gardens that I know are around my area — including at NASA!
I’m sorry to hear about your cousin. However situations differ in their details, we’ve all been there, and I’ll remember your family in my prayers.
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Thank you! I’m in northern Virginia. I just flitted over to your blog and loved your ice cream and light posts. I have a couple Texan colleagues who introduced me to Blue Bell, but the seasonal flavors!!! Oh my! And thanks for your prayers.
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Sorry to hear about your cousin. I hope she gets the help she needs and recovers. The pics of the garden are refreshing.
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I’m glad you like them. It’s time I got another post done. I used to post once a week, but it’s been a little sporadic lately!
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