October's End

I wanted to take a "snapshot" of the garden as it is at the tail end of October. It's now 7 months since we started this project.

We got as far as tacking up some boards on the playhouse before Rick C got sick (and we got extra busy with Halloween and all). Here Rick C tacks up some boards over the felt backing.

Rick, Rick, and Catherine survery the progress. The moon in the background shows how long ago this was taken, because the moon is full today.

The broccolis are broccoling.

Don't they look lovely next to the red cabbage?

The cabbage is heading up well. We hit all the crucifers with BT earlier, and the predation seems to have dropped off.

The chervil is still very small, but settling in.

The fennel is bigger and starting to bulb out. It has a way to go before harvest size though.

And the parsley is thriving.

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Weather Note

It's been unseasonably warm all last week. It was in the high 70s for Halloween, and warm well into the evening too. We're having perfect fall weather, and it's supposed to continue for another week or so. There's definitely the feeling that we better make the most of it because we expect it to turn cold and wet very soon.
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The Thai peppers are still setting and ripening fruit, but most of the others are about done.

Karen and Glen said it's not time to prune the grapes yet; you have to wait until early spring, as with roses.

The mustard and kale patch is going strong and should provide lots of greens, especially if we keep it cut regularly.

The first onions that I planted have adjusted well and are thriving. The second set is languishing a bit, but should pick up as well.

The onion seedlings came up even better than I expected.

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What We're Eating

Anything with pumpkin! Wonderful fat pumpkins are filling the farmers' market, and they cook up in many delicious ways. For Halloween I roasted up this big fellow and turned it into Pumpkin and Black Bean Soup and Pumpkin Bars (liberally studded with fruit and nuts). I also cooked up mini pumpkins stuffed with sausage and sage.

Roast Pumpkin Puree

For small pumpkins, just poke some holes in the rind. For larger pumpkins, cut into wedges. Put on a baking sheet and roast at 350 until soft through. Let cool. Scritch off seeds and strings, then spoon out the meat and use an immersion blender to puree.

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