Fall Gardening

 The girls were home for Fall Break last weekend, and L brought her roommate along home.  It was lovely to have everyone together again, and I got a bit of help in the garden from L's roommate.  I have been slowly closing the garden down for Fall.  Last weekend we brought in the squashes, a good sized (and delicious) watermelon, and enough tomatoes to make a double batch of enchilada sauce for dinner.

In addition, it was JP's birthday, so we had 5 Flavor Pound Cake to celebrate.

I had a LOT of wash to do when the girls were home, and I managed to get most of the loads hung outside on the clothesline to dry.  I kept finding clothespins on the ground, and realized that my clothespin bag has degraded enough to have holes in the bottom.  I had enough of that fabric to remake the bag.

J has started to bring home some of the things that she is not currently needing, in order to decrease the load coming home in May when she graduates.  She brought home 3 boxes of pottery, some of which are things that she doesn't like, including a teapot that doesn't pour.  JP offered her the option of shooting it with a shotgun, and she jumped at the chance.  You can see the teapot hanging on a stake behind her.

This weekend, JP and I finished harvesting from the garden and pulled out all the plants.  He took two tractor bucket loads down to the woods to dump it!  I also cut the asparagus back in the asparagus bed, and weeded it.  JP helped me dig the remainder of the compost from last year into the tractor bucket, and it is now spread over the asparagus bed to soak in over the winter.  I still have lots of produce to take care of, but I did get the jalapenos prepped and frozen last night, and I am getting ready to make some Cabbage Roll Soup for dinner to use some more.

Cabbage Roll Soup (serves 8)

- 1 large onion, diced                                           - 2 T tomato paste             

- 6 cloves garlic, minced                                       - 4 c beef broth

- 1 1/2 lbs meatball mix                                        - 1 1/2 c V8

- 3/4 c uncooked brown rice                                  - 1 t paprika

- 1 med head cabbage, chopped (about 8 c )        - 1 t thyme

- 28 oz canned diced tomatoes                             - 2 T Worcestershire sauce

- Salt & Pepper to taste                                         - 1 Bay leaf

In a large pot brown the meat and onion.  Add garlic and tomato paste and saute until very dark.  Stir in cabbage and cook for about 3 min until slightly softened.  Add remaining ingredients and cook until rice is done, about 30-35 min.

Serve topped with grated mozzarella or parmesan cheese.

Kale, Chard, sweet peppers, jalapenos, Thai Basil and Dill

Watermelon, carrots, tomatoes and cabbage

The garden is waiting for its blanket of leaves and straw for winter.

I found this large snake skin in my garden shed when I was working down there this weekend.  I didn't see him hanging out there any longer, but I'm hoping that he had a nice meal of field mice that like to camp out while he was there!

So, like it or not, I'm preparing for winter.  Our driveway should be finished by next weekend to make winter driving easier as well. 

Happy Fall Y'all!