Prep Work and the Frost

Just a mild frost.  You can just see the icy tinge in spots (the lighter green grass).  I don't think there should be too much damage, but it'll be hard to tell until the sun comes out and frazzles the leaves.

I picked 10 gallons of tomatoes yesterday, mostly green, and laid them out on the plant stand.  I wanted to make sure I had enough to make salsa if we did get a freeze.  There's still lots of smaller tomatoes if they make it.

Added to the seed collection:  green beans, more northern beans, purple beans, parsnips.

I hemmed and hawed about picking the Lady's Mantle.  It hasn't done well.  Then I looked at the marjoram- just about to flower, and oregano- almost ready to pick.  I decided to dig them out, along with the English Thyme.  Then I got a little carried away.

I dug out a salsa pepper from the perennial bed.  They're just starting to flower, and haven't produced any peppers yet.

Then I dug out the Medusa and Capiscum Anum,

and Creme Red from greenhouse #2.  I'm just not ready for the season to be over for them yet.  So I have a little bit of an indoor garden this fall.  I don't know how long they'll last for, but I figure it's worth finding out.  Next year I think I might leave some of the peppers in pots, so they'll be easier to bring in in the fall.

We filled a wheel barrow with mangel tops for the cows, goats and horses.  We'll keep doing that until all of the tops have been harvested, unless they're too damaged to be used.  The mangels are still in the ground, and they can stay there for another month or so, although the cold room is probably cool enough now to start winter storage.

The big squash is in the basement.  I couldn't find any smaller ones worth worrying about.  It seems the plant put all of it's energy into that one big one.

I harvested 8 cobs of corn from the greenhouse.  If the weather warms up a bit for another month, another dozen might ripen enough to harvest.  I think, if we have time before winter, I'd like to build a corn row greenhouse.  Maybe in the back field. 

The popcorn in the garden needs at least another month.  I pulled off one of the best cobs, but it's too tiny, and white.  At least the beasts will enjoy the stalks even if we don't get any popcorn.

I pulled three buckets of beets yesterday, so I have lots of tops to cut and cook today.

I picked two heads of lettuce, and three cabbages (a bit of overkill there).

Pulling the green bean plants for seed is yielding a bunch of smaller beans yet, as well as great feed for the turkeys and chickens. 

Still lots of work to do, and I'm quite pleased with this year's garden overall.