Fall Catchup

Over the last couple weeks, besides the party, we got a few things done, although one of us was still working way too hard. Bill got after it and cut down the big mulberry in the front. It took many loads to get it all hauled away.

Bill enjoys a well-deserved beer later. Bill has rather a houseful right now, with Jade and her family and animals staying with them. And he told us they are tearing out their beautiful redwood deck to put in cement instead.

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RIP Doc
Our friend Doc Cottle died last Saturday. He was 64. He'd had vascular problems for a while and had been declining. We're sad to see him go.
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We continue to harvest peppers, but I think we've gotten most of what we can get. It probably won't be hot enough to ripen any left on the plants.

We got two more rows worked and planted. Row 2a has a lettuce mix and row 4a has a chard/kale/bok choi mix, essentially braising greens. We also dug out row 2b and put in some onion starts I got at the farmer's market. When this picture was taken, we were feeling pretty good about our fall garden prospects.

We had a great stand of lettuce in 2a, the onions in 2b, newly planted greens in 2a and 4a, and a big triple row of broccoli in 6b. We're still harvesting tomatoes from 6a and 7b, and peppers from 1a and 8. The drying beans are still ripening in 4b and 5b, and all we really needed to deal with was the old green beans in 3b. The plan is to plant peas and fava bean in the rows that now have peppers and tomatoes. But nature is surprising, and one essential fact about farming is that you must work with the weather you have, not the weather you expect.

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What We're Eating
Stuffed Peppers!
There were these ginormous peppers in the Farmers' Market, so I bought 4 huge ones and stuffed them.

I made a pot of Lundberg organic wild rice blend in the rice cooker, browned some grass-fed ground beef, sauteed our homegrown onions, and tossed in a jar of organic spaghetti sauce. I spiced it up with fresh oregano and basil from the yard and plenty of our homegrown garlic. A sprinkling of parmesan on the top and voila! Beautiful and delicious stuffed peppers. I had extra filling so I made calzones out of the leftovers. These were so good that I'm dreaming up new filling ideas.

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We got this graffiti on our sidewalk. I rather like it because it's artistic.