Post-election day stress release

A beautiful day, but a messy looking garden.  

Before,.....then after.  Ta-da!  I feel accomplished! 

What a beautiful day to be home. The sun was bright and warm, and my frostbitten bean plants begged to be pulled up and thrown away. 

So I pulled up the cane poles that we used to make these little green bean tee-pees. I yanked and tugged until I had them all out of the ground, then I stacked the ones worth saving for next year’s garden and piled the rest on the burn pile. 

What a great way to loosen some of that post Election Day tension from my shoulders, right? 

After I had everything cleared, I mowed over the patch with the lawnmower, and now it looks nice and tidy. 

I can already visualize another crop growing there next spring. 

Same, after I pulled up our massive okra plants. Some of the rich black soil came loose, and the look and smell of it had me ready to plant something new. 

Even thought the weather was just perfect, I knew better. 

Gardeners are eternal optimists, but not that optimistic! 

Day 10 of NaBloPoMo: First hard freeze

Some green tomatoes to fry, a few bell peppers and possibly the last of the ripe tomatoes- I saved them from freezing tonight. 

Tonight we will have the first hard freeze of the season.
We've had a few frosts, but my roses kept blooming and so did the dahlias.

The dahlias were planted next to the barn, so I'm thinking they were a bit sheltered.  Knock-out roses are simply very hardy.

But I don't think any of it will escape tonight, with temperatures forecasted to be down in the low 20's.  Heck, it's already 26.

So, I spent some of the afternoon picking through our high tunnel, looking for any produce I could rescue from the freeze.

I found ripe tomatoes, green tomatoes, and bell peppers!
I'm pretty happy to still have homegrown salad ingredients this late in the year.

Some of those green tomatoes will ripen. Some I'll fry...maybe make a fried green tomato BLT.

And the smallest ones will be good to chop and toss into a stir fry.

I carried a few pumpkins to the smokehouse, where they'll probably be alright for a few more days.  But I soon need to split those open, save the seeds, and roast or cook the pumpkin for using later in pies or something.  

I make a pumpkin casserole sometimes that is like pumpkin pie without the crust.  And it's just as good with coffee. While searching for the recipe, one I found online, I came across this variation from Just a Pinch recipe club.

Sounds good to me, with or without the topping!


Crunchy Topped Pumpkin Casserole

2 c cooked pumpkin or 16 ounces canned pumpkin

1/3 c milk

3 Tbsp melted butter

2 large eggs, beaten

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 c granulated sugar

2 Tbsp all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/8 tsp ground cloves

1/8 tsp ground nutmeg

1/2 c vanilla wafer crumbs

1/4 c packed brown sugar

2 Tbsp melted butter

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Place pumpkin in a buttered 2-quart casserole dish.

3. Stir in milk, melted butter, eggs and vanilla.

4. Combine the sugar, flour, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg in a small bowl. Stir into pumpkin mixture.

5. Bake at 350 degrees F. for 30 minutes, or until almost set.

6. In a small bowl, combine vanilla wafer crumbs, brown sugar and melted butter.

7. Remove casserole from oven. Sprinkle with crumb mixture.

8. Return to oven. Continue cooking for 15 minutes.

9. Remove from oven. Serve immediately or refrigerate.

Laid to rest for a season

                                        This was our garden this morning. 

We produced a lot of food from this little patch of earth during summer and fall, but it seems like a long time already since those hottest days of bean picking. 

                                                  This is our garden tonight. 

We worked most of the afternoon picking the last of the green tomatoes and peppers, clearing dried stalks and vines, moving stakes and cages. 

Robin plowed up the last of the potatoes, and we now have another bushel or so stored to eat this winter. 

After everything was harvested and the debris was cleared, my hubby plowed the whole thing under so winter freezes and thaws can work their magic and prepare it for next year’s plantings.

Yep, the garden is ready for a long winter’s nap—and right at the moment, so am I.  I can hardly hold my eyes open.

So rest, little garden. Spring will be here soon!