September Garden Chores

This week, we will talk about September garden chores, mostly in the warmer areas. If you have planted a fall garden, there are plenty of chores to do. If not, there are still things you can do to prepare your garden beds for next spring.

If you are back East, you are probably harvesting and getting ready to kiss your garden area goodbye and wish it a happy winter. Not in Texas!

September Garden Chores - 9/12-9/18/22

Monday, September 12, 2022 -
September Garden Chores

Another September day, great for getting your September garden chores done!

Good Monday morning. The air feels cool this morning. It is 7am and 71°. It is pretty nice, compared to yesterday when it was hot and humid at this time of day.

Your summer plants should be resting comfortably in your compost bin and you should be enjoying and/or canning or freezing the produce from summer if you have any left.

This morning, a new outdoor person is supposed to start. We interviewed him last Tuesday and he accepted the job but said he would not start today. He also told us he was not employed at present. I wonder why he did not say he could start that day or the next. Most people who need the money do. We shall see.

This week, we are adding some new things into our schedule so we will see how that goes. It is pay day today and there are very few orders in the queue so they should all be completed by close of day today.

Okay, our new outdoor guy did show up today with hat and boots, ready to work!

If you are new here and you live in Texas or another warm weather state, plant your fall garden and/or winter garden. You can still grow food as long as you are not up North or back East for months to come.

The new plant area frame is up next to the front of the Fulfillment building. This is where you will purchase our seedlings and plants. It will be shaded better than the store porch.

Nacho and his helper are here this morning putting up some new outdoor areas to hold plants from the greenhouse as well as an outdoor plant market in our parking lot. This will get the plants we have for sale off of the Farm Store porch and out of the intense sun that it gets all day long. They will be in shade as well as shade cloth for most of the day, yet still be close enough to the store so we can get you checked out. We think you will like it.

We have just one and a half dozen eggs in the store this morning. The chickens are just not putting out much in the way of eggs. It is hot and humid again, 88° and will be 95°. I checked the weather over the next two weeks. Every day it will be in the 90s so there is no relief in sight. Of course, it is wonderful that it is not 100° plus, but it is still pretty hot and humid out there.

It is now 6:15pm and 92°. Nacho and his helper are still outside working. The day has been kind of stressful with payday and not getting pay stubs until late in the day. Then one was wrong because an employee did not include Labor Day and we did not get a pay stub for the new employee that started three weeks ago. I sent all of her paperwork to the accountant on August 30 so this problem would not happen but it did anyway.

Hopefully, I will get the two pay stubs in the morning. I hate to have to send people home without paychecks on payday. There were a lot of business bills to pay plus a new outdoor person started today as I mentioned above. We had one couple in the store today. I really expected a lot more.

I spent part of the morning setting up cameras and doorbells for the store. My head hurts. I think I will try to call it an early night after I take some scraps out to the chickens.

I went out to my greenhouse to turn the air conditioner off for the night and someone moved the pan I have under it where it drips on the uncovered floor so, once again, the floor is all wet. There is no reason in the world that anyone should have gone in there. I went in there this morning, fixed the pan exactly where it needed to be and turned on the air conditioner. I just don't get it.

Sunset over the new plant area in my backyard. The ladders are still up.

September Garden Chores

This week, we will talk about September garden chores. Honestly, you should be planting and watering now for the fall garden. Hopefully, you have already planted but if you have not planted your fall garden yet, now is the time. So your first September garden chores are to plant your fall crops and water them accordingly.

Second, prepare a place for your garlic bulbs and as soon as your favorite garden place has them, plant your garlic bulbs. Then mulch them.

Tuesday, September 13, 2022 -
September Garden Chores

David, Nacho, Leonard, and Roger moving the large AC out of my greenhouse. It will be put in front of my outdoor plant area to keep me cool when I need it. Too wet for indoor use.

This is the frame for my outdoor plant area by the greenhouse. Our pool bar is there right now but I think we will move it closer to our deck. All part of our September garden chores.

Good Tuesday morning! Nacho and his helper were here bright and early working outside. They also got the huge air conditioner out of my greenhouse. Hopefully, the floor will dry out and not fall through from all of the soakings. I would like to say I wanted some linoleum in there when it was being built but I got vetoed. Greenhouses are messy, wet places, especially when you have multiple people going in there.

They are supposed to be building three outdoor areas for us to work on plants with the ground for the floor so it can get wet. Shade cloth will be on top to block too much sun from killing everything.

I called to get a copy of David's physician visit this morning from September 1. They said they will mail it but it can take up to 45 days before they mail it. I sure hope not. I called last Tuesday and they said they could not request it for one week. They would not email it to me like they used to. They offered to email it to David, but I know he will delete it without even opening it because it is not business related. Once we get the bill, we have to mail it off to Christian Healthcare Ministries and then wait for four months to hear back on whether or not they will reimburse us the money we paid. I am grateful for all of the bills they have helped us pay since David first got sick in 2018, but I wish we did not have to pay up front and then wait for four months for them to pay or deny.

This morning, Encino Pest Control comes to spray the business and the house so I need to get the dogs put away for that. They do the house once a quarter which is plenty but they spray our business kitchen once a month. They do a great job with both.

If you need a good pest control company in San Antonio, call Encino Pest Control. Marc is awesome!

Marc with Encino Pest Control is here now, taking care of business. Nacho and his helper got a lot done but Nacho will come again tomorrow to finish things up.

Roger and Aaron are outside performing September garden chores, mostly lots of watering, planting, and weeding, as well as some mowing.

September Garden Chores

Today, concentrate on dead heading all of the dead blooms off of flower bushes, like rosebushes, hibiscus, and so many more plants for your September garden chores.This will promote good spring blooms.

Let zinnias and other annuals drop their seeds so they re-seed for spring. Do not dead head these flowers and they will come back in the spring.

Wednesday, September 14, 2022 -
September Garden Chores

Look at our beautiful desert rose plant. Hopefully I can propagate it to sell.

Good morning. I woke up late because I could not sleep last night until late. David made eggs and sausage for breakfast. Matt came and fed the animals. Sue Ellen has been taking apart some rubber matting under and by the above ground pool so now Matt is trying to pick all of that up and we have to put up a fence so she can't do anymore damage to it. Shredding rubber is her new passion or maybe it is the blue color. Who knows?

The pond filter drain was left open all night and drained about five inches from the pond. It was just fine when I fed the fish last night. I asked Nacho and he opened it last night around 7:30pm. He did not realize that it would keep flowing out. Matt finally got it turned off and then I had to refill it.

Shortly thereafter, the Hughes Electric people came finally to put a new plug on the gazebo. It has been a couple of months that we have been asking.

David and I went to HEB in Lytle. We have not been in about a year. Bought some good groceries there. While we were gone, I got a package of powdered weight loss shake mix that is supposed to be good for my body. LOL! They say everything is but if it works, I will let you know. If not, I just wasted more money.

Nacho has been finishing off the outdoor plant areas and now the guys are moving shelves and plants into the one by the store. Sometimes, September garden chores include fixing up what you already have and making it better. David found a snake amongst the pecan firewood we have for sale and Matt found a snake skin. Fun times!

Pecan firewood is for sale for $1.25 a piece. Pick some up for your fall fire pit.

The guys are also stacking our pecan firewood on the porch. You can buy this pecan firewood in the store only for $1.25 a stick. We do not ship firewood. Come now and get your firepit wood for this fall. We have plenty for some awesome fall and winter firepits to roast marshmallows and make s'mores. Be sure to pick some up, located on the Farm Store porch for just $1.25 per stick.

I will start trimming up and fixing up the plants that have been on the Farm Store porch in the morning. It is just too hot out there now. We will have decent plants at a decent price for you to take home and enjoy. The shade cloth shelter will protect the plants from getting the horrible baked in heat they have been getting under the plastic roof over the porch.

My nasty shake powder came today as I mentioned so I had a nasty shake for dinner. It was gross but it did fill me for a while. I did not eat anything else all night, although I wanted to.

Closed Tomorrow Until 2pm For A Company Event

Remember not to come visit us tomorrow, Thursday, September 15 until 2pm or later as we will be closed for a company event.

September Garden Chores

September garden chores include keeping up with your weeding in the garden beds around your property. If you do, there will be that much less work you will have to do in the spring. Pull any dead plants that you have not yet cleaned up from summer.

Thursday, September 15, 2022 -
September Garden Chores

The fall monarch migration is still happening here in South Central Texas. Here are a few monarchs inside of our keyhole garden taken today. We're growing vegetable amaranth in there.

Good Thursday! This morning, I set the alarm to get up early and get dressed. I had to unlock everything before anyone got here because Matt was going to be late. His assignment was to go to Lytle and pick up Linda's birthday cake at 8am. He is usually here by 7:30am and unlocks everything and feeds the animals out back. I came out and unlocked everything, fed the fish, and then went out back and fed and watered everyone.

Then I came back out front and fought with the pond pump. Unfortunately, the UV light that we got stopped working so the pond was getting all clouded up again. Two months ago, the electricians were supposed to add a plug receptacle to the gazebo but they never showed. They finally showed up two days ago. In the meantime, there was a power failure and that tripped the filter UV light. Water was going through but the UV light was turned off. Nacho got it working last night and told me before he left.

So I wanted to make sure it was definitely still on. It is hard to see in daylight I found out. By 3pm this afternoon, the pond is looking much clearer than it has in weeks so I think the filter is working.

I drank another one of those nasty shakes for breakfast. By 10am, I was starving. I had a few grapes. It did not help.

Back to earlier today, we left the farm at 10:15am to go to Salt Grass. We made a few stops and when we got there, everyone else was already waiting on us. We are usually the first to arrive. I am watching what I eat now so no carbs for me. Every appetizer had carbs and I was starving before we got there. It was after 12pm before they even took our food order because some visitors were late getting there. I thought I might die but they finally brought me a salad. Then I had chicken and green beans. It is 4:36pm and I am totally starving.

I had a carb free dinner with ground beef, tomatoes, mushroom, and avocado. Then a bowl of strawberries in the evening.

Happy birthday to Linda. Here she is with her delicious chocolate cake at Salt Grass Cinema Ridge in San Antonio.

September Garden Chores

Today, September garden chores include planting cover crops so you can add nutrients to the soil.

This afternoon, when we got back from Salt Grass, our September garden chores were to empty out my greenhouse, bring shelving, table, chairs and plants to my new outdoor area and get it all set up. Then I watered all of the suffering plants that were sweltering inside of the greenhouse. They will be so much happier outside under the shade cloth in my backyard. I am hoping to start transplanting some of them in the morning.

My new garden tools came in today from Amazon so I will be prepared.

Friday, September 16, 2022 -
September Garden Chores

This is the plant area outside of my greenhouse. Covered in shade cloth, it will protect the plants from the severe sun that we get. Fixing & transplanting our plants, September garden chores.

Good Friday morning. David left early to pick Matthew up. Matt dropped his car off at a car dealer to get some work done. I came out, opened the store, fed the fish, and re-added the lighting in the front. The internet went out so I lost the connection and could not change it last night. I had to go through the whole process again five times this morning. By then, our employees started to arrive and I was not dressed for the day so I had to go.

Yesterday, I also went through the process because the electricians had turned the internet off the day before. It is crazy how much work some lights are. I thought they would be plug in and they are on but they don't come in if they are just plugged in. Thousands of dollars and they rely only on internet which is very spotty out here. It will be nice if we are ever eligible for Starlink. They say it can be anywhere but every time we ask them, they tell us we are not close enough. Then more customers come in here and say we should be on it. I tell them what Starlink has told us and they say it isn't true.

I hand watered the plants out front and got all hot and sweaty. Then an hour later, the guys were out there soaking the plants under the shade cloth. I went and asked them what they were doing twice. The only thing they said was they were watering them because they are dry. No, I watered them with a watering can by hand in the heat because they did not. So I walked away because I am not allowed to be mean to our people.

I still have the outdoor thing for plants the way they want it, not the way I want it. If it ever gets cool enough here, I will go out and do something to make the shelving go the way I want it to go instead of the way they want it.

Good news. I just went out and checked. The row I do not want in there is not attached to anything else so I will have to drag them out. Not sure if I can but I will try. Not sure where I will hide a long line of shelves like that if I do get them out. Also, when they are pulled out, there will be a gap on the back wall that I did not want. I just do not understand why so many people are up in my business.

Once I get it fixed up, I will have to have a meeting and tell everyone here once again not to touch my stuff.

A little later on today, the middle row got pulled out. There is a gap which I don't like but at least I don't have to keep walking out. Most of the plants in there are old and the tags are washed away. I will have to plant and replace.

Advice: Don't live on the same property where your business is because your employees think the whole thing is for them. When I say something to them, they tell me that David said. I am going to have to put my witch hat on again like last fall and let them know. I would rather be nice but it doesn't work. I feel like if I say something, they should do what I say because my name is on the property as well as David's. He is the captain but if I am in charge of something, it should be done the way I say it should be.

Fall is not until September 23 this year according to my calendar this year. I guess I will have to start wearing my witch shirts a bit early. No, I am not a witch but you know that saying, "Sometimes you have to put the hat on to let them know who they're dealing with." Again, I like to be nice and kind to the employees but if I say something and they say "David says it has to be done this way" and they do it his way, niceness doesn't work. Every time I think the problem is solved, this comes up again.

Our red burgundy okra loves the heat and is still producing strong!

I left the Farm Store to use the bathroom. I had Alexa playing Christian music. I got back and the music was off and a man and woman were in here. I greeted them and wondered what happened to my music. I was helping the lady with flowers when one of our employees came in to buy two apple juices. I went to ring him up and the internet was off so I could not ring him up. He left the money and went. I began the fight to get the cash register to work again. Unfortunately, I did not win.

The customer asked about us making small seed packets for her so she could attach them to a book she had written. I told her we make just one size seed packet but she was welcome to email David about it.

Throughout the whole time I was working on fixing the cash register, she kept asking me questions so I could not concentrate. She asked again about small seed packets. We make one size. We are not a specialty print shop. We have our printers set for one size envelope. She wanted her receipt. My only options were to text or email it to her. It would not allow me to print it. She chose text. I apologized to her about five times during this whole transaction for the internet being down.

After she left, I turned everything off and then back on and gave it about five minutes to hook back up and now it works fine. Dumb cash register and internet made me look like an idiot in front of people once again...

It is 1:27pm and the trash man just came. The UPS man came with my order of Cousin T's pancake mixes. I ordered it on September 5. They filled the order on September 8 and created a label, then sent me an email to track. I tracked it every day until Wednesday, September 14 and each day it said a label had been created but nothing else.

I finally emailed the company. They apologized and told me to keep on tracking. Yesterday, it showed that it was moving and I got it today. Funny how things move when you complain. Had they taken care of the problem on the 8th instead of letting it sit in their company for almost a week, I would have had it and would not be writing about it. I hope it tastes good because I am not impressed with the service yet...

I just finished hanging up all of the farm decor that I bought for the store back in July. It looks pretty good. Now I have to hang up what I bought for the house. I should probably go do it now before I change my mind.

On a positive note, the pond water is looking even clearer than it looked yesterday. I can see the fish much better.

This hayfield finally turned green. They mowed it for the first time this year.

I love watching the mowing and the rolling of the hay rounds.

At 5pm, the hay field next to us was mowed with two tractors. There was a lot of dust going up which caught our attention. This is the first time this year that it was mowed because of the drought.

After I put the chickens away this evening, I went walking through the orchard and I found luffa, birdhouse gourds, and lots of different eggplants growing, including Black Beauty. I had no idea.

One of our Black Beauty eggplant plants out in the back 40.

The eggplant I picked this evening.

September Garden Chores

I caught what was left of the sun when I put my chickens away tonight. You can see my greenhouse on the left.

September garden chores will include putting down a fresh layer of mulch over the beds you are not using this fall so they are ready for spring. Mulch the beds where you have planted fall garden seeds as well to keep moisture in.

Saturday, September 17, 2022 -
September Garden Chores

Our birdhouse gourd patch is going much better now that it is not getting in the 100s every day.

Our luffa patch is just beginning this year.

It is 7am and the sun is about to come up. I am dressed and I need to go unlock everything and feed the animals. It is hard to believe that it is already time to do this again. Being open six days a week is rough. I need time off to do things. Saturdays are spotty with everyone showing up at lunch and then it is a long afternoon. I go back and forth to the house to do some chores like laundry and dishes but I never have time to work on anything that I want to do.

Everything is unlocked and all animals and fish have been fed. David made eggs and sausage so that was tasty.

I had time to start some laundry, do the dishes, and change the sheets. Then I packed up eggs for the store.

I took some bad looking plants out of the outdoor plant area in front of Fulfillment. I was going to do some transplanting this morning but it is so hot and humid. I have already changed my outfit once because I was soaked.

I have had a very busy six hours. It is now 1pm. I am in the store and have been stocking and waiting on customers until just a few minutes ago. All of the drinks we have are now in the refrigerator. I added eggs and one lady already bought several of those.

Once I restocked, I went to the house to grab a plate of food. That always brings customers. By the time I got back, we had customers so I could not eat. Then more came in. I helped all of them and then a few more came. They wanted a tour so I sent Shay out with them. Shay is leaving right now for the day but Matt should be here soon.

Matt showed up and Shay left. We had three more sets of customers. I found one set coming from the back of the property as I walked some ladies out of the store. I asked if I could help them and they said they had been walking around which is not allowed without a tour guide. But when we have a skeleton crew of two and we are both helping people, who knows who drives up outside? Anyway, I introduced myself and invited them into the store. They had a great shopping experience and said they would be back.

All in all, every single family or couple who came in were just so nice and friendly. All of them said they would be back. I sold a bunch of fudge, coffee, and pickled goods as well as eggs and seeds.

From left to right, Gene, David, Johnny Jr., Matt, and John Schulze Sr. This was from Cracker Barrel at his 86th birthday. Taken before Reba arrived.

Today would have been my father-in-law's 87th birthday. He went to Heaven last November but his birthday is on my calendar.

Last night, I found some Black Beauty eggplant growing out in the back forty. I did not even know those plants were there. The delightful person who harvests for us never said a word to me. Some have been picked and piled up to rot. I sure was upset when I found them. I picked as many as my T-shirt would hold and brought them in. This evening, we will have Eggplant Parmesan!

Here is some Black Beauty eggplant growing on the plant I did not even know was there. September garden chores include picking produce!

Black Beauty eggplant along with one Ping Tung Long eggplant. I did not know that was there either.

Sure enough, I made Eggplant Parmesan and it was so good! It was labor intensive and took close to three hours.

I made the most delicious Eggplant Parmesan! It was so good.

September Garden Chores

I have probably said this all year long but watering and weeding are definitely September garden chores as well as every other month of the year!

Sunday, September 18, 2022 -
September Garden Chores

This long, raised bed is filled with fall flowers that we planted last month. No vegetables, just flower seeds.

Good Sunday morning. I fed and watered all of the animals in and out. It is miserably hot and humid out there.

Once all of the feeding was done, I decided to try some Cousin T's pancake mix. I chose the Birthday Cake flavor and it has sprinkles. The pancakes came out good and taste like a birthday cake. Very delicious.

Lots of monarchs are fluttering all around again. They were pretty thick two weeks ago. Then I thought they were gone. They have been back since earlier this week. Every time I go outside, they are all over.

The Queen's funeral is in the middle of the night if you want to see the preliminaries. If not, it starts tomorrow at 5am Central Time. I have been thinking of the Queen a lot this week. I have been a big royal fan for many years. I wonder if Charles has it in him to deal with people the way she did for 70 years. He never has impressed me, especially giving up Diana for her. I think Prince William will do fine.

September Garden Chores

Make sure that you have picked everything from summer and that you pull up the old plants. Cook up any produce and save some for later by storing, freezing, drying, canning, or pickling if you can. These should be the end of the September garden chores from summer.

Now, continue to weed and water as I mentioned above. Pay attention to the new plants and look for caterpillars and bugs. You will want to kill them and spray your plants with Safer Soap, an organic spray that bugs hate.

The hay is rolled in the machinery behind the tractor.

After it is rolled, the bales are taken away.

If you have a hay field, like our neighbors do, mow it and then make bales of hay for personal use and to sell. They rolled the hay into bales today.

Return from September Garden Chores to Our Fourth Year

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