That Time of Year

64, cool and so nice. Some cloud cover has kept it comfortable so far. Yesterday reached 86, with a couple showers. We need more rain; it's getting very dry.

It's time to start cleaning out most of the gardens, sadly. Larry brush-hogged the garden that had the first onions,  potatoes, peas, and early corn so that one is finished. He will soon clean up the tomato and late corn garden, after he cuts the corn for shocks.

Here's some of what we gathered yesterday. 

The small peppers to the left were given to us by our friend Tamara; we are constantly supplementing each other's veggies. The broccoli on the left is producing tinier and tinier spears, but still delicious. I must learn how to encourage larger shoots next year. This has been our most successful broccoli year ever, so I am very pleased.

There were more squash, but we had them for dinner. The main plants died back, but some stems rooted themselves so we have "new" plants. So cool. I will string the cayenne peppers to dry later today. The tomatoes are fading fast, but a few stalwart cherry varieties are hanging on, thank goodness.

The last tomatoes from the big patch. They did terribly this year.

The large peppers were also from Tamara; she bought too many so gifted them to me. I am making stuffed peppers for the freezer with them. Our banana peppers have done gangbusters, and there are many still in the garden. I will make pepper mustard with some, freeze some, and stuff the larger ones for the freezer. So handy for a quick meal.

I started these mums in June, from tiny bit picked off some of my plants. So easy to start! Now I need to get them planted.

We didn't plant any pumpkins this year but had several plants come up from seed. We have harvested 13 of them. Considering that we did nothing at all to get them, I am a happy gardener! Beside them to the right is a maple tree I will plant soon; it and the wee hibiscus in the same pot both came up from seed in a flowerbed.

And of course, since I was in the garden, I picked a few small bouquets. 

We spent Tuesday with my cousin Tom and his wife, who will soon be moving to North Carolina, and my Aunt Georgette, Tom's mother. She will be 90 on her birthday but still gets around fairly well, although she said she is having balance issues. She still has a pet bird, and lives in a nice assisted living facility about 2 hours from us. As the nearest family, Larry and I will be "on call" whenever she needs us.

The past two days I have not felt up to snuff, probably just tired. So I took it fairly easy, just canned some Corn and Potato Chowder and some more grape juice. I also worked on data entry for the booths' records, and priced a few totes of items. But I did a lot of just sitting, resting, and even (shocker!) napping. I feel a bit better today, thankfully. 

Here's the recipe for the chowder, should you want to try it. It does not have to be canned, of course, but I like to have it on hand for quick meals.

As you can see, it has been a well-used page in the cookbook!

Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.