The baby still picks green tomatoes but not to the degree it was happening before.

The yellow strawberry production has really slowed down a lot, but there are still a few to find.

The sorghum is very tall.

The variety we are growing is called Yellow Bonnet. Here is the (somewhat cryptic) description of the type:

120 days—A fairly long season syrup-type sorghum, originally from southern Missouri. Medium stalks reach 9-10 feet, showed no lodging in one trial, and only moderate tillering (suckering). (source)

I don’t know what “lodging” or “tillering” refers to. I realize I could google it but I think it is ok to let some things remain a mystery (at least for the moment).

Broomcorn is a type of sorghum and you may hear “sorghum” and “broomcorn” used interchangeably. We can find sorghum flour in our grocery store, which I assume is made from milling the grains. A sweet syrup can also be made from the stalks (but I think you need A LOT more than we have to make syrup). We mostly grow it for fun. I love that it gets so tall.

We plan to try and “pop” the grains like popcorn. We saved the seeds last year and grew this sorghum from the seeds we saved. The plants are very sturdy and it would be a good plant to grow among sunflowers and corn to help keep them upright. In the teepee area…

I’ve never had much luck with carrots but continue to try growing them. The variety we grew this year is called White Belgian. I picked it mostly (ok, pretty much entirely) because I liked the art on the seed packet:

We will wait until the first frost to pull the rest (as these carrots are not frost-hardy). This past winter we found a few straggling carrots while building a snowman (a highly enjoyable snowman-building experience) so next year I will pick some frost-hardy carrots. The happenings continue outside the garden…

Pokeweed is a poisonous weed that grows in our area (the one pictured is off to the side of our yard). I found some fun facts about pokeweed on the Ohio State website. I don’t know how true these “facts” and “folklore” are but they are entertaining:

The common name ‘pokeweed’ originates from the Native American word for ‘blood’, referring to the red dye that can be made from the fruit (however, the color is difficult to fix). Some of the other common names, such as ‘inkberry’ and ‘inkweed’, refer to this use.

Juice from pokeweed berries was once used to ‘improve’ the color of cheap red wine.

Supporters of President James Polk wore pokeweed twigs instead of campaign buttons during the 1845 campaign. (source)

Back to edible things…

They taste like raw zucchini.

Outside the garden, my husband built a little piece of a fence. So what do you call a section of fence that basically serves no purpose?

Last month, Walter De Maria died, so we are doing our part to make sure minimalist and earthwork art continues in his absence.

Finally, in EXTREMELY exciting news: We cut into the Delice de la Table melon and it is delicious.

It is the tastiest, best thing I’ve ever grown. Will definitely be saving the seeds and growing again!