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| First Frost |
The moon was full this morning, just before the lunar eclipse. I was up to watch that. I normally rise at 4:30 but woke at 3:45. I figured as long as I was awake, I'd watch the eclipse. It was a peaceful way to begin the day. That full moon brought to a close our month of Seed Fall/Frost Time.
Most of the news this month centers around closing down the garden for the winter.
Celery has all been dried to use later.
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| Six celery plants here! |
Pears have been dried or eaten fresh.
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| Pears dipped in pineapple juice. Yum! |
Beets and carrots have been harvested and are in the root cellar.
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| Cylindra beets |
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| Scarlet Nantes carrots |
The sunchokes have been dug and set down in the fermentation crock with kim chi spices. So good!
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| Sunchokes |
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| Ready to get started on the "chokes" |
Bob has dug the horseradish roots.
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| Starting the horseradish harvest |
The roots are all washed and waiting. We will grind them and set them down on the 20th. That's our last job to do.
The garlic has been planted. I also planted some shallots and walking onions to see how they will winter over.
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| Cleaning up a bean trellis |
So, the garden is finally empty!
Bob covered each planting bed with mulched leaves.
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| Adding a layer of leaf mulch |
I shoveled the decaying wood chips from off of the paths and put them on top of the leaves that Bob laid down.
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| Layering on wood chips |
It took a couple of weeks, but the weather held fair and the job is all done. Everything is tucked in and ready to rest. It's a good feeling!
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| A big job well done |
Seed Fall is also the time when I process seeds I've saved from the garden. I only grow heirloom and open pollenated varieties, so I can save my seeds with confidence that they will perform as expected when I plant them. Here I'm putting away Dester tomatoes, castor beans, garlic chives, coriander (cilantro), and strawflowers. I also put away some white patty pan squash seeds.
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| Saving seeds, a part of the harvest |
On the heat pump front: the crew returned and did some clean up work outside, but the ground was too wet. I think they'll have to wait until the spring to finish up that job. Our heat pump is due to be installed any day now. All of the parts finally came in and they said they should be here to install the middle or end of November. That's okay, we're still using up fuel oil.
This is the time of year when we transition to rest time. Our focus shifts from providing for our physical beings, to providing for our spiritual beings.
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| Ready to settle in |
We spend time relaxing physically, reading, thinking, enjoying nature and exercising our creative muscles. For me, that's needlework and harp work. For Bob, that's planning or working on home improvement projects and tending the bird feeders.
To live a balanced life is to live attentive to both the physical and the spiritual life. We like to think of our year like the ebb and flow of the tide. It's a construct that makes the most sense to us.
Ah, the snow is starting to fall again, inviting me to settle in and recharge.
We hope that you can make an effort to do likewise. It will prove to be well worth your while.
May your Thanksgiving be peace filled. Be careful and be safe.
Until next time,
Kathleen and Bob
Holiday treat, shortbread acorn cookies
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| Who needs a gym membership? |
