Its almost the end of our garden season this year, and things have slowed down considerably out there. The temperature dropped into the low 40's last night, so Matthew and I figured it was time to get outside and harvest the last of our ripe veggies. I wanted to get what we could before a frost hit so we wouldn't lose everything. We pulled out two tomato plants and the last of the cherry tomatoes, along with the peppers plants and carrots. We left three tomato plants that still have many green ones, I doubt any more will ripen but it doesn't hurt to give them a chance. We waited too long on the last of the corn, so it went into the compost pile as well. This coming weekend will be our final big job of the year outside - we will remove the stakes that formed the beds, rake all the dirt evenly and then spread out crimson clover seeds for our ground cover this fall/winter. This is what the garden looks like now:
Its really neat to think back about how the garden was at the start of the year, how it is now, and how much it has provided us with in between. I am so thankful that we have the room to grow our own food, and that we had so much extra to share with our friends and family. We learned so much this year, and I am hopeful that we will have an even better garden next year. We have so many ideas for new layouts and plants that it almost makes me wish spring were here now! To tide us over, we have a bunch of broccoli plants that will need our attention for the next month or so. Next year I hope to have a much bigger fall garden, but for this year the broccoli is enough!
While Matthew and I were working in the garden, the kids ate some freshly dug carrots:
And they found new uses for some corn stalks that they had knocked over while running through the garden - decorations for their fort! Its cool to see what enjoyment kids can get out of simple things like corn stalks, or cardboard boxes. They don't need fancy toys...they just need imagination!
Our last harvest of tomatoes and peppers:
Its really neat to think back about how the garden was at the start of the year, how it is now, and how much it has provided us with in between. I am so thankful that we have the room to grow our own food, and that we had so much extra to share with our friends and family. We learned so much this year, and I am hopeful that we will have an even better garden next year. We have so many ideas for new layouts and plants that it almost makes me wish spring were here now! To tide us over, we have a bunch of broccoli plants that will need our attention for the next month or so. Next year I hope to have a much bigger fall garden, but for this year the broccoli is enough!
While Matthew and I were working in the garden, the kids ate some freshly dug carrots:
And they found new uses for some corn stalks that they had knocked over while running through the garden - decorations for their fort! Its cool to see what enjoyment kids can get out of simple things like corn stalks, or cardboard boxes. They don't need fancy toys...they just need imagination!
Our last harvest of tomatoes and peppers:
