Green tomatoes galore!

I woke this morning thinking of fall and the coming of a frost that will end the gardening season as I know it. As such i soon found myself out in the garden with a pail and trimmers. I began to clean out some of the raised beds. First the marigolds- I love the color of them but really do not like the smell at all. Next came a bed of tomatoes that were kind of spindly. After they were gone I found space to do some late fall strawberry plant transplanting of runners. This is my first go at strawberries. I started the summer with 3 plants and since then many runners have shot out and I have transplanted as I think of it. I am hoping that the spring will bring many healthy plants to burst forth with fruit.

I soon found my bucket heavy and full of green and a bit of red. My eye fell next upon the sweet potato plants. The vines were long and lush. The plants were kind of afterthoughts when I hit the feed and seed mid summer and they were marked 1/2 off. I tucked them into empty spaces and forgot about them. The vines took over one box and even started to root into the ground beyond the box. I trimmed back the vines and began to dig in the dirt. I am thankful for loose soil as it was fairly easy to find most of the tubers. One broke off and as I dug deeper I found that the potato had burrowed its way through the lanscaping fabric and into the clay soil beneath- wedged tightly into the earth. I was able to remove it. I now have 3 cardboard trays of sweet potatos drying on the campertop in the sun. Not bad for a first go at a new plant.

the green tomatoes continued to call so I began on another box of plants- the plant had been overwhelmed by squash early in the summer and didnt do much. once the squash left I kind of ignored it and sprawl city took over. Another bucket was filled with the green tomatos that were pulled from all the sprawling stems.

We then composted lots of stems and leaves- a long composting season for them as they are quite fiberous, but winter is coming so time is on my side.

With a bucket and half of green tomatos sorted for green tomato relish and half a bucket laid out in cardboard trays for ripening my morning ended. The afternoon was spent slicing, chopping and crying my way through the veggies as I prepped the relish - it is now 4 quarts, 1 pint of relish in the cooker for sealing. Our neighbors love the stuff so they will be well stocked!

More tomatoes await me for another day. Many stems still left to cut off the web of trellis that they weave through. As I began to clean up the garden today I marveled at all the produce that I have been able to collect from my small garden. I also thought of the joy of knowing that after I add a bit of manure mix to the loose soil I will be ready for the next planting season. It may take a bit to shake and deroot the plants and dirt as I pull some plants but so worth it to preserve the rich soil and look forward to future crops. It also has me again dreaming of what else to add to the garden next year, how many more beds and what layout will serve us best??

Until then I will collect my peppers and tomatoes and continue to put the garden to rest. The leaves are falling, the acorns are seeking out heads to bean as they drop. There is much to enjoy as I spend time in nature this month.

Time in the garden

I have been spending time playing in the dirt today. I awoke to the sound of soft rain and thought of how this would be a good day to move monkey grass. It surrounded our mailbox post in a thick clumped circle. With a shovel and knife I was able to pry it up and out. I then loosened dirt around the area and slowly divided the massive root system and transplanted many small shoots to fill in a corner spot around the mailbox post. It will slowly fill in and I will get to repeat the same adventure in several years.

To spend time sinking my hands in dirt is a way for me to rest and slow my pace of life. Today I spent about two hours planting, weeding and transplanting. Last night at Lowe's I found a bleeding heart plant- a plant from my childhood, to add to my garden. It is a shade lover and I remember looking at neighbors plants with great joy. Now I can visit my garden and cherish the flowers as they come. It is telling that I am now thinking of my childhood as I seek out plants to bring color and interest to the garden.

Last weekend I spent time in a beautiful garden of a new friend. She was gracious to give me a tour and send me home with iris bulbs- her castoffs, my joy and delight. When we arrived here we had a lanscaped perrenial bed in the front and a halfwall brick planter. Since that time I have divided the hostas, lambs ear and other perrenials and began to fill in the empty spaces that lined the fences and walls. It is amazing to me to see things thrive with a bit of compost and manure. Now I am slowly diversifying the beds with a few annuals for color and moving things about to bring interest in texture and heights.

Our neighbor has a beautiful clemantis climbing a trellis in her yard. Last night I found one on the markdown rack so soon there will be beauty climbing up the lamppost in the front yard.

This month I have begun to use herbs and natural remedies. A friend gave me a plaintain tincture to help with our sons acne struggle. slowly but surely we are seeing an improvement. To us this is an amazing wonder as he has had antibiotics that did not seem to help. Now a simple plantain / cider vinegar tincture is slowly but surely drawing out all the impurities and bringing healing to his breakouts. I rejoice to see God's provision to cure.

Our daughter and other son both had bites of various sorts this week. We applied bruised plaintain and comfrey and soon found the rash and swelling diminished. As our daughter heads out to camp she'll be carrying plaintain tincture and a bug repellent from nature's provision.

Our raised bed garden is slowly growing. The cool weather crop continues to squeeze against the cage- today I thought of the cabbages as captive cabbages as they are protected under a chicken wire cover. The seeds planted are shooting up and we are beginning the battle against aphids and other attackers of vegetation. It is restful to daily visit and pick a few peas or nibble on some fresh broccoli. We look forward to the melons, cucumbers and tomato that are in process.

I spent time last month building up the compost bin. We took the truck to a subdivision to collect bagged leaves and grass. Filling the back of the truck we soon had full bins. As the weeks have passed the level of organic matter has shrunk. When I checked the piles I found the heat within toasty. Earlier this week I spent time turning and soaking the pile. Slowly but surely all the grass, leaves and vegatable scraps will turn into rich dirt (compost)and will enrich the garden and flower beds. What fun it is to recycle the weeds and grass into dirt- feeding earthworms along the way!

So, another day in the garden is done, my hands are a bit grubby as I just never remember to don gloves. As I leave it is with joy for the time spent in quietness and time talking with the Lord as I enjoy His creation.