kindergardens - week 17 {onions, watermelon and irene. oh my!}

I am a slacker.  I had a week and a half to do my KinderGARDEN homework, and it never happened.  I was supposed to take pics of the garden at sunrise or sunset.  But I was either asleep, or busy, or it was cloudy, or dark, or rainy, or hurricane-y.

Most of our gardening this week involved either preparing for Hurricane Irene or surveying the damage afterward.  You can read more about our experience with Irene here, but in summary, the only real casualty we had around here was the sunflowers.

Kiddo took the flattening of his flower maze in stride.  It had become a nearly impenetrable jungle, so he hadn't been using it much, anyway.  I am mourning the loss of the sunflowers, but thankful that nothing else was damaged and that we were able to enjoy them as long as we did.

Before Irene blew in, we decided we'd better clear out the garden "just in case."  We picked the tomatoes and peppers, and the onions FINALLY got pulled out and carted up to the house.

I've got some work cut out for me.  If anyone needs a good cry, you are more than welcome to come over this week and help me chop them up!  :)

(P.S.  Check out that corner bed.  We started with two nearly invisible rows of spindly little plants back in June, with nary a berry in sight.  I'm drooling in anticipation of all those strawberries next year!)

Kiddo took a break to hide away in his morning glory house while I checked on the rest of the garden and Hubby tried to keep the weeds at bay with the mower.

(Photographer's note:  no, our leaves don't really look that good.  The bugs have been busy, but the holes in the leaves were so distracting, I photoshopped most of them out.  The few that I did leave are still driving me crazy - they just might get cloned out, too!)

The most exciting news in our garden this week was...

wait for it...

WATERMELON!!

Hot diggity dog, I can pick a ripe watermelon after all. 

Kiddo and I had fun picnicking in the back yard, dripping watermelon juice everywhere and seeing how far Mommy could spit watermelon seeds (not very far - it was quite pathetic, actually). 

Our garden is definitely winding down, and we are starting to see signs of fall - I canned the last batch of tomatoes a few days ago, and the peppers and other veggies are getting fewer and smaller while the pumpkins are growing at breakneck speed and turning orange.  The air has a cooler, crisper feel to it, and Kiddo started school this week.  Fall is probably my favorite season, but I'm dragging my heels this year, trying to savor the last bits of summer.  One of those bits will be that last watermelon that is still out there in the garden, just waiting to be picked.