Catching up again

All the following photos are from August.  I haven't been taking many pictures recently.  Here's a beautiful dragonfly on my pumpkin plant.

 And speaking of pumpkins...

 Here Franklin displays a "fun size" cucumber;  we also had an English cucumber which gave us a couple huge ones.  The two cucumber vines grow behind him on the trellis.  On the right are the two pumpkin vines;  now that it's October, we have two small pumpkins turning orange--and they're about cantaloupe size, I'd say.

Also in the photo above are two tomato plants which have yielded a very modest, though delicious harvest.  Last year's greenhouse tomatoes may have produced slightly more, but they didn't taste half as good as these ones.  I'm pleased and surprised by the difference;  they're in the exact same planters as last year's, and I didn't change the potting soil or even add anything new to it.  The only real difference is that I grew them on the patio instead of under glass.

And above is the raised bed I built from old fence posts (the was photo taken not long after planting in August).  Two months later the plants are Very Large and we've had several salads and stews off them.  The kale is especially big now (it has the smallest leaves in the above photo;  two of the kales are at the top of the bed, contrasted against the wood).  To fill it, I put down a thick layer of newspaper at the bottom of the bed, then about two weeks' worth of lawn clippings on top (I stirred them once or twice to keep them aerated),  and then finally a few shovelfuls of earth from the dead bed upon which the raised bed sits;  I then planted it up with mizuna, pak choi, chard, and kale.  And put down a good layer of crushed eggshells to deter slugs--and chicken wire to repel our feathered friends. 

And we now have ten chickens out back.  Ten is a lot to keep track of!  The newest four have settled in fairly painlessly with the old six, and have learned to come when called, as the others do.

I have also recently taken the final exam for the final class required for my BSc.  I should find out if I passed by December, but hopefully earlier.  And what am I going to do now?  When I first started my degree, I wanted to focus on a career in my chosen field;  but since having Franklin my outlook has completely changed.  I don't want to be a career woman;  I want to be a mother and a gardener!   But despite all that, I may have to be a career woman whether I like it or not;  our finances don't allow for me to give up paid occupation just yet.