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Final summer harvest

September 2020 experienced 3 days of frost! That really does signal fall, together with those lovely days of sunny 14 degrees and a cold wind that can chill our hearts.

The inevitable conclusion is to start closing for summer crops, because choices have to be made and I am so bad at that. I should have cut my bean plants much earlier to give some carrots more light and space, but the plants were so vigorous! I cannot just kill them... Hopefully the hidden carrots will pick up fast

It took me a full day to go around the garden to harvest and remove plants, pile them in the compost. And I am glad I did it since the very next day, a new frost advisory came and it was a true frost, as per crystal tips on top of o my brussels sprouts.

It never gets old to take a stroll into my yard and come back with fresh produce!

A great summer mix to eat fresh!

 
The front yard is now the spot that receives most hours of sunlight and unsurprisingly the production continues. Fall crops are in full production (beets, daikon, carrots, a few onions) as well as magnificent flowers. I always loved purple and pink and white for flowers (and so do bees) but I have to say I am in love with those fluorescent oranges of marigold and calendulas. It is very fall and halloweeny and so attractive!
Sparkly mix marigold, from West Coast Seeds


Canning and freezing beans was the task of the evening, after cleaning the garden from all possible bean plants, including dry beans. Those are hang to dry in the shed since rain and frost and cold are the norm now, they had no use to just stay in the ground.
 
The green beans gave me a full size L bag of Ziplocs that I reuse year after year, two fresh meals for me and my husband (why not eat fresh after all???) and two pints of spicy green beans marinade, with some of my jalapenos. Simple recipe out of my head, so I am excited to taste them in a month or so. The peppery heat will be well placed in the cold of fall and winter.

So many green beans! And yellow, and purple...
 

 
 
Some frozen specimens for future soups and stews
 
The excitement after every harvest is accentuated this year by the volume of it. For five years now, every year I have a new raised bed or pot and this year was no  different. And by doing so I can better accept the different result every year brings. As an example, this year tomatoes and pepper and beans exploded. But I could have very few carrots (seedlings lost to slugs and crickets) compared to last year and even less brassicas dues to the evil swede midge. But never mind, we take each season as they come!

And as we officially entered fall, October still has some warmth to give, that is why tomatoes and peppers are still alive. I am hoping some more of the fruits can ripen, because I still have loads of sweet peppers: Belcanto (the long one below) California Wonder and Hungarian Cheese. The Belcanto was very productive in late summer and fall! Each of my two plants gave me more than 20 sweet peppers, which for me is a first.

The hot peppers still continue their production as well and I come across red jalapenos every other day. They are all in pots, living on the deck in the backyard, the one spot that still has sun exposure for most of the day.
 

Hot Jalapenos on the left, sweet Belcanto on the right

 

At this time of the year I always debate if I should just harvest all peppers and bring the fruits inside anyway. But while the plants are still alive the freshness is just so divine! Nothing tastes better than freshly harvested produce, and I already have loads of frozen peppers that came into crazy production mode in the summer and could not be consumed as fast!

So I am still betting on one or two more weeks to keep them alive! I wonder if I do that to keep summer going until no longer possible. Maybe my hanging on  to my peppers is nothing but me having a hard time to letting the summer taste go. I know that once my peppers are gone it will be 7 months until I taste fresh peppers again!

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