into fall :: the garden

last week I picked the majority of the peppers left out there.  maybe there are about a dozen small ones hanging on.  most of the tomatoes were all long since pulled, with the exception of a few volunteers.  things are definitely a lot calmer and quieter out in the garden beds these days.  we've got kale, chard, collards, lettuce, leeks, parsnips, beets, carrots, and a smattering of herbs still growing.  oh, and radishes.  which I must admit I sowed more for the instant gratification than for any real love of radishes.  because, really?  they're not my favorite.  not even close.  we're hoping the greens go well into the winter with the added protection of plastic covering over the hoops, which we'll add soon.  there are also still some tomatillo and okra plants, but it's cool enough that they can't really do much.  though we'll likely be able to make one more small batch of tomatillo salsa.

we are quite literally scraping the bottom of the barrel (basket) of the onions.  we started harvesting and eating them in late July and haven't had to buy any since then, but it looks like they'll be on the next grocery list.  I'm pleased to have grown roughly three months worth of onions, but thinking next year we'll double (or more) the amount we plant in hopes that we'll get further into the year on what we grew ourselves.

we didn't grow the corn in the picture up there~ bought it at the market from a kid in art class who grew a bunch of gourds and corn.  I think I'd like to grow popcorn next year though.

acorns.  wow.  there are four huge white oaks in the front of our house and the house next door and it doesn't take nearly as long as one might suspect to gather this many of the poky little orbs.  and the pigs at farm school were quite pleased with the treat.

a little list in the garden journal of things preserved and such this year.  it could be a lot longer, but it could be a lot shorter as well.  there was also a small batch of tomatoes from a friend's farm canned whole - maybe 6 or 7 quarts.  above is the list of stuff made just from our own garden (with the exception of the blueberry jam made from our blueberry picking venture, which also yielded some quart bags for the freezer).  well, and the sugar maples in our neighborhood.

the garlic will go in any day now, and we'll keep tidying things up and adding mulch and compost to the beds for the winter as we can.