Winter Landscapes

Potato Party

Well this post is a little late, but I figured better late than never. Back in September we were blessed to have the help of friends, family and neighbors to get our potato crop out of the ground. We made it into quite a party. In the evening we all had a harvest dinner of potato soup and Asian cabbage salad. We also celebrated David's 4th birthday with a some cupcakes, balloons, and gifts.

The Potato Harvest Crew

Matthew Helping Sort Potatoes

Picking up Potatoes

Potatoes

Happy Birthday

David Turns Four

Harvest Season

It's that time of year again. That time when the evenings get dark earlier and the mornings have a chill in the air, while the days are still warm and sunny. The leaves are beginning to turn a golden shade. And the garden is winding down. It is the time of the harvest. I love this time of year. We are gathering the potatoes, onions, and squash in from the field. The dehydrator is running most of the time filled with tomatoes, pears, or onions. I canned 21 pints of salsa verde and the apple butter is cooked down and ready to can also. The pantry is filling up, all stocked for winter. Soon it will be time to get our firewood in. This time of year is busy and yet there of something slower about it,  something cozy, a hint of winter rest.

Planting Garlic

This fall we planted a large area of the garden to garlic. We have ten beds, one hundred feet long with four rows in each. It was quite a bit of work to get it all planted but we did it. It was just in time too, before the ground began to freeze and snow stared to fall. It looks so nice all planted and mulched.

Pumpkins and Squash

Cinderella Pumpkin

I love growing pumpkins in all different shapes, sizes and colors. Here is one I grew this year that I think is just beautiful.

Sweet Melon

A melon from our garden. I can actually grow melons in our cool spot but they are late and might not ripen. So you won't be seeing any of these at the market, because I just grow a few for fun. This is a French Charentais melon and was very sweet and delicious.

Garden Fresh Tomato Sauce

Yum...

Sunny Sunflowers

I love sunflowers! They are so cheerful and summery. This year I have to rows of them one along the potato patch and one below the squash patch.

Italian Zucchini

Dill Pickles

The smell of dill and vinegar fills the house. It is late summer and time to make pickles again. I am slicing cucumbers with the sun streaming in my kitchen window. There is something so pleasant and old fashioned about making and canning dill pickles. I love being in the kitchen turning garden produce into something delicious to store for the winter. I love the beautiful jars filled with pickles cooling on the counter when I am all finished.

Flowers in the Garden

I love having a few flowers blooming throughout the garden. So this year I added some marigolds and nasturtium at the end of rows. I also have some flowering herbs like borage, along with a bed with cosmos, dahlias and other flowers.

First Tomatoes

I picked the first ripe tomatoes out of the hoophouse this morning! I am so excited. There will be lots more to come!

Morning Light

Strawberries are Ripe!

Our first Strawberries are ripe! We brought the to the market today and they went fast.
I love the smell of the strawberries while I am picking them. And of course I get to eat any with little holes in them. So delicious!

Ready Soon...

Cucumbers

Yellow Crookneck

Tomatoes-these will still be awhile:(

Sungold Cherry Tomato- almost ripe!

Harvesting for Market

Lovely Lettuce

I love the variety and colors of lettuce. This year we are growing around 10 or 12 varieties. It is fun to arrange all the colors in a basket at the market. And they make a very pretty salad!

Radish Pickles

We had lots of extra radishes a while back. So I tried a new recipe for refrigerator radish pickles. They were actually pretty good but quite different.

Zucchini

We brought our first zucchini to the market on Friday! These pictures were taken a few days earlier.