Harvest

Over the last two weeks we have been bringing in the fall harvest. Wow, that sounds like I farm or something. Not at all, it is just a little harvest from my modest garden. We will also have an ongoing winter harvest, but I will get to that later.

As usual, I have way to many green tomatoes. Some of them will ripen on the counter. The rest will have to be canned in one way or another. There are also lots and lots of hot peppers. I have agreed to trade some of those peppers for handmade soap. I am grateful to have met a good many talented people in my life and Sylett, the soap maker, is one of them. She is warm, talented, wicked smart and has the most amazing speaking voice I have ever heard. Anyway, I get some soap, she gets some heat.

The remaining peppers are being put up in various ways. Some are being processed in brine, some dehydrated and powdered some pickled. The unripenable tomatoes are being pickled (both sweet and dill) and some made into jam. I have had one request for pepper jelly, which is so easy it is almost cheating. Well it is cheating, but who's going to tell.

We also have a small harvest of potatoes, one pumpkin, one acorn squash and two tiny Hubbard squash.

Over the winter we will bring in broccoli, collards, Swiss chard, carrots, beats, cabbage, snow peas, etc... I love my winter garden. It is like have a green grocer in the backyard.

I have discovered the joys of bartering - fresh eggs and soap are just the beginning. I'm also going to hunt down some honey. Gone are the days where I give everything away for free. I believe everyone has something to trade.

Freezer Burn

Two nights ago, it dropped below 30 and my warm weather plants are all melted. Really, they look melted. My beautiful zinnias are no longer pink, orange, white and red. They are now just brown and limp. The tomatoes and peppers appear to have been hit with a blow torch. It is funny how some things previously frozen often look burnt - freezer burn?

I have a slight earache right now, so I am going to leave the mess until it either warms up or my ear feels better. Hope the neighbors don't mind the mess. Shouldn't be a problem as I can pay them off with pickled peppers and green tomatoes. The kitchen table is covered in hot peppers and green tomatoes. There is plenty to go around.

If anyone has green tomato recipes they would like to share, I would love to have them. See, I didn't beg this year. Well, not yet anyway:)

Bartering

The fall garden is producing amazing amounts of veggies. I have tons of peppers, broccoli and greens. There is way more coming in than our family can eat. I've been offering it up for free to anyone who will come pick it up. A couple of days ago, a facebook friend offered to trade me fresh eggs from her hens for broccoli. I gave her two bags of veggies and she gave me sixteen brown, pink and green eggs. I am going to make a Thanksgiving breakfast feast featuring those eggs.

Have a happy Thanksgiving everyone.

Day 10

Not much to say. Working on a giant pile of tree trimmings. Cutting the trimmings into little pieces burning them in the cheminea. Can almost walk through the back yard again.

The caterpillars are doing fine.

Have a great weekend.

Why I Didn't Spend an Hour in the Garden Today

Instead, I finished this quilt top. That pattern is HARD.

Day 9

I've reached the point in this garden cleanup where things start to become obvious. I mean really, really bad things become obvious. Things like giant poison ivy vines, fire ant infestations, a gazillion "saved yet cracked and useless" 6 and 9 inch flats and trumpet vine invading the potting bench. There is also a weed I know as colts foot. It is four to six feet tall this time of year and looks like a smallish tree. It is easy to take care of, cut it off and compost it - TADA.

This year, my massive passion vine has grown over and around these large woody weeds. Not a problem, that passion vine needs a haircut anyway. But wait, it is full on Gulf Frittilary butterfly mating season. There is a lot of butterfly action going on out there and the caterpillars are all over that passion vine.

Today's work went slow. Clip a section of woody weed, detangle passion vine from weed, repeat. One cat actually made it to the compost pile, but i saw him and put him back on the vine.

I wish you could see how pretty the garden looks with all those butterflies floating around.

Days 7 & 8

The month of gardening marches on. Worked out there yesterday and today again a little more than an hour each time. The pathways are almost completely weeded and neat. Only one more section needs my attention . Just so you know, Oklahoma sandstone is heavy and sort of sinks into garden soil and doesn't like to be pried up. I am absolutely sure those flagstones were fighting against me.

Tonight I used the leaf blower and cleaned off the deck and the garden paths. What a huge difference that made. I should do it every week. We should declare Tuesday "Leaf Blower Day." No?

The warm weather plants are doing great. The peppers are beginning to ripen. We will never eat all of those hot peppers, so I need to find someone to take most of them off my hands. Anybody? All twelve tomato plants have fruit on them. Hopefully they will get big enough to ripen in the kitchen after the first freeze, otherwise, I'm going to need some more green tomato recipes.

The difference in the garden in just over a week is wonderful. I am almost ready to for someone to ask to see it. Usually, I find myself apologizing and making excuses for all of the work that needs to be done. If someone were to come to the garden gate tomorrow and ask to look around, I would be happy to show them and, of course, sneak some peppers into their pockets.