Oh, how our garden grows

Harvest Mania has come and gone here at the farm. It started gradually, the cold nights pushing us on: rushing to scythe oats and rye in the dusk of one late afternoon, gathering all the remaining green tomatoes in a last minute assualt on the three-sided "greenhouse," a final day spent harvesting potatoes from morning to evening. Then suddenly, the tipping point.

Monday it happened. Our comings and goings with wheelbarrows, carts, buckets, and baskets were the clues to passer-bys that all our carrots, beets, radishes, turnips, rutabegas, cabbage, leeks, millet, flax, quinoa, chard, spinaches, lettuces, and asian greens were being taken from the dirt and stored in our root cellar, basement, and refrigerator, as need be.

It was an all-day affair, and one that wasn't properly finished until mid-week.

Two things still remain. One: weeds. Tenacious and persistent, weeds should rightfully be included with death and taxes on Ben Franklin's list of the things to be sure of in life. If rain and sub-freezing temperatures allow, these tough, vegetative intruders will be pulled out of the ground as gardens are put to bed for the winter. If not, the rematch will go down in the far-off spring.

The other thing remaining in our gardens, is, of course...KALE. We can't eat it fast enough, and the plant puts up a long last stand before the cold gets the better of it. So we're preserving it as fast as we can, yet still it dominates so much of our landscape. In garden beds, yes, but also on the side of beds, in the pathways, on compost piles, in animal pens, between logs, alongside rocks. Kale is remarkable. What can we say?

Well, for one...EAT MO'! KALE!

Better yet, plant some yourself. Such a tiny seed, and yet it produces so much food, all season long. Go ahead, get some while you're thinking about it. You won't regreet it come next season.

~Beth

The leaves let go

After nearly a month of the most brilliant fall colors, the leaves are starting to collect in droves. This morning saw a thin layer of ice atop every container of water, and frost on the plants. We've all been busy worker bees. So much to do as the harvesting season draws to a close.
-kati