And....scene

29 degrees when I woke up today, and even the micro-climate of my sheltered yard has met winter this morning.   I picked ripe tomatoes from my remaining plum plant on October 27, I call that a good season!


And I was pretty much ready, mentally and otherwise.  Yesterday I doubled up on my low tunnels, they now have plastic and row cover.   I realized my oldest plastic is getting pretty aged--I'll probably replace it this weekend  (this isn't greenhouse plastic, just 3- or 4-mil hardware stuff).  I also have a repair to do on my cold frame, but it's accidental ventilation will be actually be okay during this time of year when temps range so widely.


The  amount of growing space I have under cover is actually very close to what the future greenhouse will be. Efficiency and convenience are much lower, of course.   As I picked bunches of kale, spinach, and lettuce yesterday, I realized my harvest habits will change--maybe checking on the hoops once a week, snipping what looks good, and planning meals around it.  No more running out to the garden at dinnertime to snip an ingredient.

I try not to break out the preserved and stored foods until we have some hard frosts and have used up the fresh produce first, and we're almost tired of our rotation of summer meals.  We had probably our last BLTs this week (using vine ripened fresh tomatoes anyway), and are eyeing the squash in the basement.  Last night's dinner was a good transitional meal--we had samosas, made with freshly picked peas, jalapenos and spinach, mixed with market potatoes (and a bunch of Indian spices).  For dipping I made a batch of Nigella Lawson's spicy apple chutney, using up the last of some orchard apples and one last homegrown pear, plus more serranos.  Mmmm.

And now for ACT II:  Winter meals!