Fall garden chores....

Well, the weather person said it was going to rain...there were two and a half inches in the rain gauge yesterday at noon, and it is still coming down! We sure needed it though, as the ground was becoming dust-dry. The fall equinox occurred yesterday, and the rain and cooler temperatures have arrived, right on cue. (6 inches (!!!) in my rain gauge this morning at 7AM, and still raining...so glad we live on a hill!)

It's been a busy time, stashing away produce and fruit, processing tomatoes and trying to clean up the garden wherever things are finished for the year.

The squash and pumpkin vines turned yellow and mildew-y, so I harvested the Red Kuri squash and the pumpkins. The squash were starting to grow odd little bumps on them, but I think that is normal for this variety.

Kuris to the left, pumpkins to the right

We found a potato rolled out of it's hill, just laying there, and on investigation, it looks like some curious critter (probably our resident fox) sniffed its presence out, and dug it out to see what it was. No harm done.

The sweet peas across the front of the asparagus patch are pulled, the hardware-cloth fence removed, the soil turned, and yes, there were a few marble-sized potatoes there which had managed to grow despite me yanking out the sprouting tops regularly. I'll lift the existing old hay mulch among the asparagus stems, add some manure there, as well as along the front of the patch, then put new mulch over the whole bed. It will be just; The Asparagus Patch; from now on. There are lots of sturdy big stems and I'm looking forward to next spring's bounty!

The garlic and onions have all been cleaned and stored.

The garlic is amazing, but I'll never use it all. Plans for planting later this fall will be for less than the 100 cloves I planted last fall, for sure!

The onions have been so full of moisture from all the rain we had this summer, that they appear to have been splitting their skins while they were drying?? (They were intact when they were harvested.) I am concerned about how well they will keep this year, and will be checking them often throughout the winter.

The yellowing vines have been pulled off of the bean fence, and the dry pods I left to cure, have yielded some lovely big, fat, bean seeds.

Eight of the turnips are pulled and cleaned ready for waxing, but the main crop is still in the ground. 

We ate two small ones..Yum

 

Once things dry up after this rain, I'll be pulling, cleaning and storing the rest.

Tomatoes are still ripening, although I have pulled and tossed a few plants of those big, beautiful, but tasteless specimens. I am sure they will be back to haunt me next year, when all those seeds germinate from the compost! The paste tomatoes are pretty good, so I'm concentrating on them.

Two batches of salsa, one of chili sauce, and one of pasta sauce, are on the shelves. 

Carmen peppers and onions for Chili sauce

More tomatoes have been squirreled away in the freezer for later processing when the wood stove is going. On the agenda now is a batch of Grandmother's green tomato mincemeat, a Christmas tradition here, for pies and tarts. I ferreted out the amount of green tomatoes needed for the recipe, and there actually weren't a lot to find!

The eggplants are still producing, one plant in particular is so beautiful, and loaded with fruit.

On a recent walk around the bush trails, we found some mushrooms fruiting, but expect a whole lot more after all this rain, especially if the forecast for continuing mild overnight temperatures is true.