Sunny Days & Frosty Nights

We finally got our first frost over the weekend. The first night it didn’t blanket everything, but settled in pockets in the garden here and there. I had delayed garden harvest in hopes the ground would dry out a bit, because we got something like 8 inches of rain over the past month. The days are sunny now, but we’re getting frost every night so I reckoned it was time to get to work. Like bringing in the last of the cushaws.

I found only a few sweet potatoes.

I had two varieties planted in two different places in the garden, but neither did well. At least there will be some for holiday dinners. It’s funny how the harvest can vary so much from year to year, isn’t it?

While I was digging for those I found these.

Jerusalem artichokes. Last year’s harvest was kinda piddly, but it looks like we’ll have plenty this year. These are heading for lacto-fermentation.

I picked the last of the green tomatoes.

Not as many as I’d did like, which makes me think I should have canned green tomatoes for frying earlier in the growing season.

I pulled our first sampling of fall carrots.

Dan had dumped the sand from the grandkids’ old wading-pool-sandbox-turned-duck-pond into the bed. These are the nicest carrots we’ve had in this garden.

My Swiss chard made a nice come-back, and it finally seems to be pest free!

Can you see it for all the wiregrass? I transplanted some of the chard in the hoop house, to see how it fares this winter. I read it can be perennial in warmer climates. Usually it succumbs to our winters, so I’d like to see how long I can keep it going.

Raspberries are down to their last handful.

Soon I’ll start pulling out the fruits I’ve been storing in the freezer and begin my jelly and jam making. After I finish those, I’ll start in on the year’s supply of bone broth.

We’re working on husking the field corn,

while the goats get to feast on the leaves and stalks.

The pigs spend their days hunting acorns.

Last but not least, here is Sam guarding the firewood.

There’s always something to do, isn’t there? I’m reminded of Carla Emery’s admonition to plant something every day. I don’t necessarily do that, but when one centers their life upon the land and what it produces, then there is some related task or chore nearly every day. It the cycle of seasonal living. Where are you in that cycle?

Source: http://www.5acresandadream.com/2015/11/sunny-days-frosty-nights.html