september in the community garden

i spent some time on campus this morning doing some maintenance work and taking some photos...the season is well along and it seems the eggplants are continuing to take a hit...i found three that were in various stages of development and doing fine, but they were tucked away well inside the bed and screened by foliage...the fruit (?) that was developing along the north side of the bed was exposed and, unfortunately, is no more...too small for human predation i am pointing at squirrels...i have put down repellant in the bed but the plants on the north side hang over the edge leaving them both exposed and out of the repellant's effective range...hopefully some will be salvaged...the plants are still blooming but time is shortening...the green peppers on the other hand are chugging away and look to be producing a good crop...multiple peppers on many plants and maturing rapidly...there is still one potato plant left with a bit of green with a young lamb's quarter for company...the rest of the potatoes have died back fully and could be harvested any time...i have looked in vain for new growth on the cherry tree all season so today while i was breaking up the compacted soil around its base with a warren hoe i saw what looked like weeds growing around the base...however when i went to remove them they turned out to be new growth emerging from the base of the tree...firmly rooted in the trunk, not the ground...i am no expert on cherry trees so this may be a completely normal occurrence but i will be doing some research to find out...finally the top photo is of the newly installed sign at the community garden...it fits in attractively...at least i think so. ________________________________________________________________ 9-2-2012 9:26 a.m. _____ i spent the last hour or so looking around at websites and indexes of the botany books i have and they all concur that new growth at the base of the cherry tree ( called suckers [presumably because they draw energy away from vertical new growth] and not confined to fruit trees ) is nothing extraordinary...the also all agree that they should be removed as soon as possible and as close tot he trunk as can be accomplished...unfortunate...as i s aid it is the only new growth i have found on the tree.