The Yellow Tree & Wrapping Up the Garden

A rainbow of leaves has been showering down this week as the winds blow in some cooler weather.  We finally did the big, end-of-season harvest.  We've enjoyed a very generous fall.  It was lovely to pick the tomatoes and peppers in the sunshine.  We often push the season too long and end up harvesting on a cold and grey day.  Matt remarked about how the tomatoes were still soft and warm to his hand as he picked them.    Below is a selection of photos from our October garden.

When we returned from a week in Arkansas we had a lot of ripe eggplant waiting for us.  Like...a lot.  This isn't even all of it...a lot.  I feel like I say this every year, but I think this was our best eggplant season yet.  The "Nadia" eggplants were picked faster than we could eat them!  We were particularly pleased with the "Fairytale" variety, which is new to us this year.  They grew in splendid little clusters, like grapes. 10/4/2022

The tree at the top of the garden is always the first to change colors.  It is my favorite each fall. The prolonged warm weather was a lovely gift for our garden. 10/11/2022  

We had a super crop of peppers, despite how much the hail set them back.  Matt chopped up seven quarts of (red and green, but mostly green) peppers for the freezer.  I dried the hot peppers and a few sweet ones, too, with our dehydrator.  The latter is an experiment as I want to make my own dehydrated vegetables for our instant camp meals.  10/4/2022

The Ginger kitty is hanging out in the garden all day while she still can.  She's pretty much a fairweather kitty.  10/11/2022

The aforementioned Favorite Yellow Tree. 10/11/2022

The leaves don't last long, but they are gorgeous while they do!  10/11/2022

A panoramic view looking out from the greenhouse door.  The   10/11/2022

Once the Yellow Tree starts to give up those golden leave the lawn is quickly carpeted.  10/15/2022

We had a volunteer kabocha squash that vined up the hedgerow on the north end of our property.  I really enjoy how colorful this corner is--green, red, yellow, orange, brown. 10/16/2022   

Inspired by my sister-in-law, Clare, I harvested and dried some mint for tea this year.  It is so easy!  We have three types--peppermint, spearmint, and mojito mint--and I blended them all together.  10/15/2022

Ginger has taken over the basil pot.  We didn't have much luck with basil this year.  Buuuuuut, I don't think we can blame Ginger, who largely took over the pot as the plants died.  Not that she has much respect for the plants... 10/15/2022

The Yellow Tree in full swing.  10/17/2022

  Gosh, I think it is pretty!  10/17/2022

The golden carpet at the foot of the Favorite Yellow Tree.  The squash patch is in the lower right. 10/17/2022

Matt picked all the tomatoes.  Plenty of them were still green.  They're in cardboard boxes in our library/guestroom now until they ripen.

A view of the kabocha squash suspended in the hedge at the top end of the garden.  They became increasingly visible as autumn developed and the leaves started to fall.  10/19/2022

"Lunchbox" sweet peppers.  These itty-bitty sweet peppers tend to ripen more quickly than a standard-size bell pepper.  We've been trying different varieties over the years trying to find some that check all the right boxes for us, namely that they ripen fast and have thick-walled fruits.  10/20/2022

Matt working on garden clean up--pulling all but one of the artichokes--with the Yellow Tree completely denuded in the background.  Oh, the difference a few days can make!  He wants to leave one of the artichokes just to "see what happens" as the cold weather sets in.  So far he reports it is hardier than the squash vines which have all shriveled in the first frost. 10/20/2022

The winter squash haul.  Butternut is our preferred winter squash, but the volunteer kabocha will add some variety.  They're now stored away in the basement.  10/22/2022