Happy first Saturday of meteorological fall! A big thanks to Natalie of Natalie the Explorer for hosting WeekendCoffeeShare each weekend.

As we just entered autumn, I like to take a moment to reflect on the transformation of the garden, particularly the front garden. The photos in the gallery show a progression from the bare beds of February 2025 to the popping of daffodils in March to more greenery in April to loaded with colors in June to now, September 2025 – a gigantic mess of sweet potato vines. I hope you agree that it went through quite a transformation this year.

This is what you’ll see when you pass by my house on the street. I’ve seen neighbors do double-take as they jog by. To tell you the truth, I just want to hide those rocks. I don’t like them, never have. In fact, it wasn’t even my idea but my mom’s. I wanted mulch but always, my mom twisted my words around and rejected my idea out front.

Anyway, I guess I’ll have to live with it now even though it makes the ground harder to walk on and hotter to walk on. It makes the entire space about 10-degree-Fahrenheit hotter then it should be. Between last year and this year, I’ve already gotten rid of some of the rocks, either tossing them to my uncle’s yard or moving some to the backyard to fill in some of the holes in the ground.

This week, a couple of the neighbors came and paid me a visit. They wanted to form a group in the neighborhood and wanted me to teach them to garden. I was instantaneously flattered. They said people walk by my garden everyday and want to learn how they can grow like I can. I said, “Of course.” How I want to be in a room full of people with interests.

I told my mom about it afterwards and she laughed in my face. “Don’t flatter yourself,” she said, “there’s no way you’re teaching people to gardening in my house.” There she was again, trying to shatter my confidence into a million pieces. Somehow, I felt nothing this time.

“This is my house,” I said but it’s like speaking into a void. She had marched into her room and slammed the door in my face. 😤

In July, I yanked all the plants that were fried by sun out of my personal meadow. I figured I would have to re-seed come next spring. Lo and behold, without my interference, it somehow seeded itself with alyssum and calendula seeds and now, it’s lush and green with these dainty purple and white flower. I love the sweet smell when I run my hands over them. The aroma isn’t too intense, just enough to let me know of its presence.

Finally, back in the front garden, I found my favorite zinnia variety. Unfortunately, I can’t remember which variety it is that I sow since I just tossed a bunch of seeds into the soil. Thankfully, I only had two varieties in the mix – California giants and California state fair.

Meanwhile, I think this is the fullest I’ve ever seen my Greenstalk tower to be. 30 pockets, each pocket filled with at least one plant. I want to put some cold-weather veggies in the pockets but ended up having to squeeze some of the seedlings below the edible amaranth. My primary goal for this tower is to build a strawberry tower, I believe I succeeded. I guess we’ll see next year.

As for the pumpkin patch in the background, I do not know what happened. Did I mention that’s one plant?

One minute it was all twisted from being whipped by the wind and the next minute, it had not only conquered the tarp I have laid the plant on but it’s invading other spaces as well. I think it was most likely the result when my mom harvested the pumpkins and freed up the plant’s energy. I now have a questionable amount of small Japanese pumpkins growing in that patch. This also tells me just how rich the soil in that bed is.

Anyway, I appreciate you stopping by. This was a longer post than I ‘ve intended to be. I hope you will have a wonderful week ahead.