The sun rose at 6:18 this morning, and will set at 9:24 this evening, for just under 15 hours of potential sunlight. The sun is not quite 35° above the horizon at noon, but it now gets almost 16° below the horizon at solar midnight. Patchy clouds today, but there is still no frost in the forecast. Not that I haven’t gotten out the row covers, or that I’m not keeping a careful eye on the forecast nighttime temperatures!
The wax beans (the ones planted first) are growing faster than I can harvest them, as are the beets. The green beans, the ones I planted late, are in blossom and are showing their first tiny beans. If the frost just holds off for another couple of weeks, I might get a harvest from them. Zucchini? I think another trip to the food bank is in order. At least it’s not like one year when they refused to take any more zucchini!
On their way to the food bank. Those are 8"x16" pavers, for scale.
I really need to take some time off from the internet and trim up and fertilize the plants I plan to bring in for the winter. I have several pots and hanging baskets of geraniums, a hanging basket of fuchsias, and that “Arizona” rose to bring in. And I need to clean up the plant room, too. Funny how retirement (and trying to market two books) leaves you with so little time.
P.S. at 1:30: the sky is clear blue without a cloud in sight, and the obscenely large zucchini (Hey, how much can one person eat?) are on their way to the food bank.
P.P.S. 5:00: I knew I shouldn’t have said without a cloud in sight. Cumuli are building up all around, though it’s still clear overhead. The food bank was happy to have not only the obese zucchini, but several empty boxes I wanted to recycle. If your garden is overproducing, consider your local food bank.
Buy Homecoming from iUniverse
'Homecoming' Blog 
Wow, I am really envious of your long days now — we are losing daylight hours much too quickly and the garden is showing it. We’ve had a challenging growing year for squash and beets and — well, almost everything! Our yields are way down from most years! Your zucchini is BEAUTIFUL! I hope the frost holds off for a while for you!
We’re losing over 6 minutes a day, and in less than 4 weeks we will have less daylight each day than points south. The fall equinox is not exactly a time for rejoicing up here (except for skiers, snowmachiners, etc.), more of a last gasp (like the Equinox Marathon.)
I don’t think there’s ever enough time in the day, but marketing your books really does take up a lot.
It’s true. Even in retirement, the days are full. I am so jealous of your garden. I would never have expected some of those plants to grow in Alaska. It’s wonderful!