We have had a very busy month here so far and there is no sign of slowing down for the next little bit. But that isn’t a bad thing (just a test of our time management skills).
The garden continues to flourish and are now producing some of the more exciting crops. We are now seeing a large number of tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots, corn, pumpkins, and squashes developing along with the salad greens which we have been harvesting for about 7 weeks.
This mix of lettuces has been producing all summer! 
Almost pumpkin season 
Lots of tomatoes hiding through our plants. 
Tomatoes mean lots of sauces, salsa, and other good food! 
Not long now till we are making pickles! 
I planted these marigolds and they are stunning! 
Appears my first time growing corn will be a success!
At the house gardens, we have harvested 100 garlic this year. Sadly, the garlic was much smaller than we had hoped for. We will still be able to eat this year’s garlic but I will purchase new garlic for seed. Next year, we will try to plant in a sunnier location which will hopefully yield much larger bulbs.
We had a fun surprise a couple days ago when Kaleigh noticed a yellow bean on a hosta. We had forgotten that we planted beans this year and we were able to find enough beans for our supper that night!
We have also harvested all of the beets, carrots, and radishes that were planted in the spring. Our new growing station is now prepping our fall crops of radishes, beets, turnips, broccoli, and cauliflower! Another round of snap peas has been planted along with some pole beans in the front yard beds.
This cauliflower was transplanted a week ago and is looking good. 
The cabbage has been struggling to cope with the slugs. Hoping to get three heads this year.
And with only two zucchini plants, we are still unable to keep up with the zucchini harvest! This morning, we counted 6 pumpkins growing across the front yard and the giant mammoth sunflower is now measuring at 10 feet tall!
For scale, the trellis behind these sunflowers is 8 feet tall. 
Beefsteak tomatoes that are larger than my fist! 
Beautiful midnight snack cherry tomatoes.
I split the beehive back at the start of last month and I am happy to report that we now have two established hives with laying queens! Our front yard smells strongly of honey everyday so I suspect that we will get a decent honey harvest this year despite the long dearth this summer. The bees need lots of rain ASAP so the flowers give extra nectar!
Can you spot the queen? 
Two happy beehives
A few weeks ago I shared that we had lost a couple of our new chickens. Well the flock continues to grow as we adopted four rhode island hens. Liam promptly named the white one ‘ol bawk bawk.
The hens have given four eggs so far but we expect that egg production will pick up late fall before slowing for winter. But, come spring, we should have a steady supply of eggs!
The orpingtons like to block the door 
Liam enjoys trying to pet BBQ. 
Girdie and the hens hanging out inside.
We are now entering what will be the busiest time of the year as Kaleigh’s photography enters wedding season (check her out! https://www.kaleighbettyphotography.com), the harvest season approaches, and I prepare to return to work next month. So please excuse me if I start to disappear for a bit.
These update posts are my favourite to write. Despite being all over place, they give me a chance to stop and reflect on the successes, failures, and lessons learned over the last month. So, if you made it to the end of this post, thanks for following along!
The Red Tree Homestead 
I don’t know how you two keep up with yourselves! Hope the bears don’t smell the honey!
LikeLiked by 2 people
Its safe to say that we are tired. But once winter arrives, we will slow down a bit.
LikeLiked by 1 person