The sun hasn’t set on our 2021 garden season yet. We still have quite a few things growing out there and new stuff is popping up every day it seems.

The peas are really loving this cooler weather and have taken off again.

The pumpkins are still growing new ones even though the first ones are already close to being ready to pick.

The ivy on the chicken coop is still making new leaves and slowly working its way across the front.

I found a different kind of ivy which I didn’t plant, growing quickly in the wildflower beds near the poultry pen. It must have been in the packet of wildflower seeds. I think it’s English ivy and if so, that means it could come back next year.

That would be great! I want as many perennials as possible to make my job easier.

We spent yesterday expanding the garden area behind the dog yards.

That will be where my new black and white pumpkin patch is next year.

We’d already tilled and fertilized the space directly behind where the pumpkins are growing this year, and the new patch is just on the other side of the straw stack, so we will be able to fill in both areas with pumpkins and other vining things (like zucchini, squash and cucumbers).

We also planted some of the willow shrubs directly behind the very back dog yard (there are three now) so they’ll have a nice shady area there in a couple of years.

We have new neighbors moving in behind us soon so we want to get all of the back area cleaned up and turned into garden beds so it looks nice since they have a two story and will be able to see down into that part of our yard. The wall of willow trees we planted along the back will eventually block their view for the most part, but we still want things to look tidy and appealing to the eye from their place.

We will have a few new neighbors all around us, actually. There are three new houses that they just finished building on one acre lots behind us and two neighbors have sold their places across from us already, with a couple more talking about selling while the market is hot.

The thing is, though, you almost have to cash out and move out of state to make it worth the effort. We’ve thought about that and considered moving to Wisconsin or Michigan where we could buy a large acreage to run the dogs on or even a small farm with the money we could get out of selling our place here, but we love it here in Idaho so much.

I would really, really miss the Tetons and the mountains here. So I don’t know if we’ll ever leave. Of course it’s becoming more like little California by the day, so… yeah.

Never say never, right?