Winter-Fall

We've had a long, glorious fall, starting with a warm dry Summer-Fall, proceeding through a cool dry Fall, and now we're entering Winter-Fall, with cold temps and wind, although not much rain yet. We got a sprinkling last weekend, but not much else. It's definitely berry season with my Chinese Pistache street trees. I got really energetic and raked, mowed, and blew all the leaves and berries, and the street pickup guys grabbed them today. The shorter days are limiting our farming time, but, we had a big burst of effort last week, and got the rest of the crops in. Buddy cleaned up row 2B. Look at the root structure of that Volkov! It has roots as long as Buddy is tall. Next season, I think I'll plant one Volkov in Row 8 and let it sprawl.

I got all the garlic planted in Sector 4 (by the house). There are two big beds of Spanish Roja garlic, and one bed of onions.

Rick took the afternoon off on Halloween, so we went farming. I got the rest of the onions and leeks in 2A, and got the chickens working on 2B.

I harvested a bunch of lettuce and broccoli. That Continuity Butterhead lettuce is a real keeper! It's beautiful and tender and tasty.

I finally got the last of the lettuce starts planted in Row 8. Most went here but a few went in where the cabbages had come out. Speaking of cabbages, there are a lot more ripening now! So far my favorite recipe for them is in Thai red curry sauce over rice.

I also got the old apricot tree pruned. That was the last of the pruning. Rick got the back window framing cut, and I painted one side so far. Saturday we had a party at Karen and Edd's so we didn't go farming, and yesterday was cold and windy, so we stayed inside then too, but I'll try to get the other side painted today. I'd sure like to get that window up! It will keep us much warmer and drier.

I've also had no excuse for not walking, so I rejoined Buddy, but in the afternoon, which works MUCH better for me. I read an article recently that said that walking in nature was a great way to beat depression. It certainly is lovely, anyway!

I got this beautiful reflection shot in Sycamore Pool. The fallen leaves in the water look like part of the leaves in the reflected trees.

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What We're Drinking
Wychwood beers: Buddy arranged a beer tasting for us of three appropriate Halloween ales. All were a bit sweet for my taste, but I liked the Wychcraft the best, while Rick preferred the Scarecrow. The Wychcraft is "triple hopped" with Styrian Golding, while the Hobgoblin was a dark roasty brew, with notes of coffee. The Scarecrow is an all-organic ale.

We also went to the Goose with Karen and Glen on the Friday before the Halloween party. It was a nice crispy Fall day so we walked the few blocks, and added a few more beers to our life lists.

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