Garden 2026 Update #4: August through October in Zone 6A

A little stroll through the garden and peek into the kitchen for a fall wrap up of outdoor gardening 2026. 

New additions to Beautifying my Space: Pretty Purple Coneflower (Echinacea). 

Jalapeno Peppers from seed did well before the squirrels got to them. Will have to remedy that for next year. 

This area of the garden affectionately called Cucumber Lane was looking really nice, until a random groundhog found his way into my garden. This was a first in the 13 years at this property. 

He chewed the leaves off 9 cucumber vines and it took them about a full month to recover & start producing. Overall, the vines did spectacular and gave me enough fruit for nearly 30 pints of canned pickles, and a quart jar of fridge pickles. Sidenote: all of those pink Cosmos are volunteers. 💖

Captured on the Wildlife Cam: Cucumber Leaf Eating Groundhog. 

He spent an entire day eating through the garden, then thankfully moved on. 

Inspired by landscape lighting used in Palm Springs that was popular in the 80's when I lived there, I have exclusively used solar lighting in my garden everywhere I can. It's hard to capture it on camera, but it gives off a very magical, calm and happy vibe, on a summer evening garden stroll. Every year I tend to add more lights. 

The view from the deck.

They looked nice, but the grape vines were non-producing this year. 

I'll give them a hard prune before next season, and hope they bounce back. 

Sometimes the daily harvest looks like this. 

It wasn't a good tomato year but my Elderberries doubled from last year.

We enjoyed lots of fresh peaches this year, and I canned a batch of this amazing Peach Rum Sauce. 

When Strawberries are in season here's another great recipe: Strawberry Lemonade Concentrate 

Years ago I tried a recipe for homemade ketchup, and my family insisted I never do it any other way. Funny thing is, I didn't even like ketchup that much, but once I made this, I understood. 

The recipe I use for Homemade Ketchup comes from Sarah, at Living Traditions Homestead. 

Canned ketchup, strawberry jam & tomato juice. Hot tip: can all the things, while in season! 😍

The cucumber plants on the mid-garden rasied bed trellis did absolutely amazing. 

I planted 6 on each side, and after the groundhog was done, exactly one of them survived. 

And produced like crazy!

My DIY strawberry window boxes did really well this year. 

Peppermint bolting, and it's so pretty! 

Cowboy Candy from (mostly) my own home grown Jalapeno peppers. 

I use the same recipe as Jess at the Farmer's Table 

but I dial it back a little, and blend 2 pounds of sweet peppers with 2 pounds of hot. 

Cowboy Candy BBQ Sauce

I make this with the leftover syrup from the Cowboy Candy recipe. 

I've followed many different recipes easily available online over the years,  and eventually came up with my own favorite based on my family's heat tolerance. 

The running joke is, how kind I was to buy these cats a hot tub. 😄 

They all love it being out there all summer long, just as much as all of the humans do. 

My Basil literally blew up this year. This was one of three batches of pruned Basil brought in for drying. Grown from seed, I had it in pots throughout the garden but it wasn't doing well. I removed all the plants from the pots and replanted straight into raised beds (with peppers, tomatoes and cucumbers), and it just exploded like wild.  By harvest time all of the in-bed plants were roughly 3 foot tall. I use a lot of Basil in my cooking for soups and sauces, and I have enough that I think it might be a couple of years before I need to grow more.  

Cranberry juice (showing off) & peppers ready for chopping & freezing. 

The sights, sounds, lighting and textures of a summer kitchen are such a joy. 

Frankie, "helping" in the walk-in pantry. 

I think she's sending the message I need more cans of pork and beans.

My gorgeous Pineapple Sage in the green pot. 

I've taken some clippings to propagate and Lord willing I'll be growing this every year in my garden. 

Another garden volunteer this year, still blooming late October!

Cherry tomatoes - still blooming late October

Everbearing Strawberries, still producing late October!

The view from the deck, at the end of the season. 

Most of this year's canning from my wee garden. It's not a lot, but every shelf of food is another item I don't have to pay for at the local grocery store. 

Two of the most important things to consider when planning a garden, is to 

a.) grow what grows well in your zone and 

b.) grow what your family eats. 

In my family, we consume a lot of tomato based products like pasta sauce and salsa, as well as BBQ sauce, ketchup, condiments, pickles, jams & jellies. By growing it and making it myself, I haven't needed to purchase any of these things from the grocery store in about 5 years now. It's a very good feeling to know I can just grow it and make it myself for a literal fraction of what it costs to buy at the store. Not to mention, being fully aware of every single ingredient and knowing it's 100% organic, as much as it's in my control. 

Thank you for stopping by, and I hope you were blessed and encouraged by what you've seen here. 💖