New England October 2017

The month of harvest, ghosts and goblins, the colorful leaves, and the onset of cold temperatures has arrived. The end of some of the the summer crops are side by side with the beginning of the fall harvest at the farm-stands. It is hard to say good-bye to the fresh sweet corn, I will ask when they think they are done and buy more frequently until it is gone. The mums are starting to take center stage, the colors catch your eye, another visual reminder that summer is almost gone. The leaves are starting to drop, the just mowed areas are quickly covered with scattered leaves that mark fall has arrived. The garden has to many brown vines, the leaves of some of the summer vegetables are  gone, another sign from Mother Nature telling us winter is coming, and we start to feel the need to clear and cover with the beds with the winter blanket before the snow so they can sleep.
We are just about comfortable with the early morning school bus noise, and we have not had too many frosty windshields that need to be scraped. We are seeing the last of the "Boys of Summer", and the gridiron is in full swing.The TV is giving us big thrills with the new shows that are surely going to keep us glued to the TV set as we contemplate the next episode of our favorite series.
But for most of us garden tenders, we are busy with the end of the season, the final push, the last blast of the wonderful process of growing food. We make the yearly fun trip of apple picking, applesauce will line the cupboard. Some with cinnamon, some with cinnamon and sugar, some just plain ole' sweet apples. Today I filled eight 5-gallon buckets, all free from my neighbors who know I will be bringing them applesauce from THEIR tree. Next will be the canning of the end of the tomatoes, and one of my favorites, Dilly Beans, pickled green beans that are EXCELLENT to snack on,
We are starting to put the summer things away, cleaning and prepping them for next year. The Fall tools are taking a front stage in preparation of the onslaught of leaves. Our compost piles will soon be covered in an abundance of the colorful remnants of fall, soon to be returned to the soil as it plays out in the circle of life.
So we gather the dried corn stalks, look for that perfect pumpkin to put on display, and make way for the mums. We like what they represent, they we are part of glorious world of gardening. 
While we are looking forward to some of the blessed restful times of Winter, sitting by the wood-stove and thinking of Summer, hoping be ready for Spring, as Fall paints the ultimate scenery pictures that will be embedded in our memory, we cherish the last days of this year's garden.

Beautiful, Rock, beautiful.

Ginger Blue wrote:Beautiful, Rock, beautiful.

The only part that changes for me is that we sit by the woodstove and dread summer instead of looking forward to it.

Ginger Blue wrote:Beautiful, Rock, beautiful.

Ginger Blue wrote:Beautiful, Rock, beautiful.

Our resident poet laureate!  

Nice opening, Rock!  Thanks!

Here are my harvests over the past week:


These beets were planted back in April:

Beautiful, CC! I especially love that pleated tomato. It almost looks like a tiny pumpkin!

Thanks!  A neighbor gave me that very tasty pleated tomato and for the life of me I can't remember what it is, and I keep forgetting to ask him.  Just saw him this morning, too, as he was leaving for the winter.  I think it was the last one and I neglected to save seeds.

CapeCoddess wrote:Thanks!  A neighbor gave me that very tasty pleated tomato and for the life of me I can't remember what it is, and I keep forgetting to ask him.  Just saw him this morning, too, as he was leaving for the winter.  I think it was the last one and I neglected to save seeds.

AARRGGHH!!!!! Sounds like something I would do.

I'm making steak pizziola for supper and using the first frozen quart bag of my own tomatoes from my freezer this year.  It always adds such a good flavor to tomato sauces.  Mmmmm good.

quiltbea wrote:I'm making steak pizziola for supper and using the first frozen quart bag of my own tomatoes from my freezer this year.  It always adds such a good flavor to tomato sauces.  Mmmmm good.

That sauce looks wonderful!

Yum, QB!!!  Now I wanna dig out my Easy and Deliscious Crockpot Marinara from last year.....

I have never heard of pleated tomatoes!