It is October. The sun is dipping lower in the sky and the days are shorter. Because we live in the pacific northwest fall means less sun and a return to the rainy season.
With less sun on the garden, many things aren't growing any bigger. Tomatoes aren't ripening on the vine. Melons that got a late start won't ever get big enough to eat. But, I am not willing to just let it all go. For me, the challenge is to find ways to use what we have. Tomatillos, green tomatoes, onions and the last of the green chiles will become sauce for enchiladas and whatever else this winter. Squash will get roasted and turned into a puree for soups. Same with pumpkins.
The cabbages like the cool weather and will be ready to harvest soon. The heads are dense and look lovely. i am bound and determined to make kim chi with some of it. I am not sure what to do with the rest to preserve it. We still have carrots and kale that will come into their own before the first frost and will be added to a stew, I am sure.
The chickens are giving us at least one egg a day and I have hopes that before the winter comes rolling in there will be more than one in the nesting boxes in a day.
This garden has been a refuge for Jenn and I this summer. We are already planning our cover crops, talking about what to do different next year, and plans for expanding the chicken run in the spring. Just because the growing season is over doesn't mean the work is done.
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