Winter Uninterest

I don't know why I think it's so funny that gardening magazines promote "winter interest" in the garden.  I feel an obligation to try, and it doesn't work.  Here is Joe-pye weed, a six-foot tall flower with a feathery seed head.  It's a source of food (for birds), so I keep them up.  In fact, you can see a stake with a curve, which was my attempt to keep them standing.  Between the snow, the wind, and the bitter temperatures, these poor plants collapsed.  The seed heads are buried and encrusted in an icy covering of re-melted snow. Who knew my winter interest attempt could be so uninteresting?

Winter has arrived

Here's the view from my front porch last weekend in the middle of a snowstorm.  I am learning my new camera, which is refurbished but fabulous (and was an amazing deal).  This is a good time to learn a new camera, because I will not be working in my garden until the spring.  Happy holidays to all my readers!

Action! with Pumpkin Puree

This is about as close to an action shot that I'm going to get.  (I suppose I could hire an assistant or bribe a family member to take pictures for me.) After roasting my pumpkins, I puree them in my mini food processor for recipes.  The pumpkin chunks are on the left, my handy-dandy tongs are center, and that beautiful golden substance in the measuring cup is puree. I'll use it for pumpkin pie, muffins, or soup, or whatever recipe calls for canned pumpkin.  This year I'll be baking pumpkin bars for Thanksgiving.

Roasted Rainbow Carrots

With the holidays coming up, I thought I'd offer an idea for a delicious and simple vegetable dish:  roasted carrots.  Roasting vegetables brings out a delicious sweetness.  My daughter was stealing vegetables from our plates.  Chop the vegetables into bite-sized pieces, toss with a little olive oil, spread in a single layer, and roast until tender and caramelized.  The carrots in this photo are the variety "Rainbow," which is a mix of white, coral, orange, and yellow.  They glow on the plate. Beautiful and tasty!

First Snow October 25

Children delight in the first snow.  Adults wonder if the roads are slippery.  In any case, this batch won't stay long, as the ground is warm and the temps will rise above freezing soon.  My Bright Lights Swiss chard will survive this snow, though the upcoming cold overnight lows could cause damage. I'll cover the plants and hope that I can extend my growing season a little longer.

Leaves: A Comparative Study

This photo shows the average lawn  covered with the average number of leaves from the average number of trees.  Time to rake!

Now this photo shows the number of leaves that cover my lawn, which is surrounded by woods.  Time to weep!

 

I will happily accept any home-tested advice or remedies for sore muscles.

End of Season Evaluation

Because I watered consistently, this was a great year for my garden. ("Was" except my lettuce is still growing.) I loved the Slenderette green beans and will grow them again.  Yesterday we roasted Rainbow carrots, and they glowed on the plate and tasted sweet as candy.  I really did have too much zucchini, but everyone loves zucchini bread, so it's okay.  My tomatoes were in too shady of a spot and didn't do as well as usual, but the peppers did very well. The weather was too warm for my broccoli, which seemed to flower as soon as I turned my back.  And I will remember to bag up my grapes next year.  (Game on, raccoons!) This photo is Orange Smoothie pumpkins, which I grew in my compost pile because I ran out of garden space.