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| Harvest Abundance |
This has been a very busy month here. The garden was at peak production and that means plenty of work for me.
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| Tomatoes and squash |
The tomatoes finally started to ripen. I've put up forty pints and have now been making tomato leather. This is good to use in soups and to reconstitute as tomato paste.
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| One big tomato! |
Some of our varieties get to be quite large, as you can see.
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| Opalka paste tomato. |
This year I tried a different sauce tomato. This is an heirloom paste tomato called Opalka. There are not as many fruit on the plant, but at this size you don't need so many. This one is only average sized. There are many twice this size!
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| Corn waiting to be cut off the cob |
I've also frozen corn, bell peppers and Lima beans. There's just enough space left in the freezer to add a couple more boxes of kale and chard.
Harvest has also begun on potatoes and Aduki beans.
Soon I'll begin dismantling the beds of things that have finished their run.
We've also been busy splitting firewood. We sometimes get very oddly shaped pieces. We call these "Sunday wood". We like to put them in the stove on Sunday mornings and watch them burn while enjoying a cup of tea. The irregular shapes make very interesting flame patterns.
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| Gnarly wood with interesting grain pattern |
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| Out with the old... |
We've had our new fuel tank installed. It's not that much to look at, but will come in handy.
Bob's got the cellar all put back in order. Nearly everything had to be shifted around so the old one could go out and the new one, in. It was a good opportunity to sort and rearrange.
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| ...In with the new. |
We had to take time out of our work to move my mother into a new room at the care center. Her mental health has deteriorated to the point that she can no longer care for her personal needs. She now is in "enhanced care". That's a level between assisted living and nursing home. She'll get more appropriate care now.
My mother is a hoarder. The staff said we must downsize her things greatly. We spent quite a time doing this in, shall we say, hostile conditions. Thankfully it's done now.
Bob has just had the first round of dental surgery for the current tooth. He comes through these with very little complaining and fuss. He just gets impatient with the length of time involved. (Over six months from start to finish.)
There's still a lot of work to come in the garden. It will be a good month before we can "put it to bed". We hope that your return to autumn routines are going smoothly.
Take the time to enjoy what I consider to be the loveliest season. Harvest of life what is good. "Put to bed" what has passed it's usefulness.
Till next time,
Kathleen, Bob and Lunette
