It’s over.
A hard freeze last week brought the end of the gardening season for the year. This is always a little bittersweet. I’m ready to be done picking and canning and freezing – but yet I’m sad at the thought of how long it will be before we taste vegetables this fresh again.
We picked everything possible that afternoon before the freeze. Now what do I do with a dish pan full of jalapenos?
For now we are eating them as poppers with almost every meal! 🙂
I’ve played with the idea of trying to can some in little jelly jars to use like the canned jalapenos you buy at the store. But that will need to wait for a day with a little more energy and creativity.
I really can’t complain though – how often are we still eating fresh poppers in November? I feel like we went into “post-season play” with the garden this year.
But instead of the going to the Rose Bowl – we got invited to the tomato bowl!
We picked every tomato that had even the slightest hint of red and brought it inside. As they ripened, we cut them and froze them. Almost of these beauties are cooking on my stove right now in one last big batch of spaghetti sauce for the year.
We did save a few out for some more bruschetta, salsa and tomato salad. We need to savor these treasures – it will be a long time before we taste anything this ripe and delicious!
The sweet peppers will go in the fridge and I’ll use them up fresh as quickly as I can. I’ll miss sweet pepper in my eggs and on my salads.
I still have a few apples on the porch and some patty pan and butternut squash from Mom waiting in the basement to be eaten – but for the most part – the harvest is in and the season is over.
The fence is down, the stakes and cages put away for another year, and the plants pulled up and hauled away.
The ground lays fallow and will be soon covered with snow as we sit inside all warm and cozy – enjoying the fruits of our labor.
But then – with those bitterly cold days of January – the first seed catalog of the year will arrive and we’ll start the whole process over again!
Gardening isn’t just a hobby – sometimes I think it’s an addiction!
I’ve linked this post up at A Tuesday Garden Party at An Oregon Cottage.
Blue Jeans and Cotton Tees 
The reality of…
“The ground lays fallow and will be soon covered with snow as we sit inside all warm and cozy – enjoying the fruits of our labor.
But then – with those bitterly cold days of January – the first seed catalog of the year will arrive…”
does something to my heart and mind. Is fall really here? Is it already time for the ground to lay fallow? Will snow soon be covering the green grass that still emerges in healthy fashion from our yard? It all kind of makes me sad yet makes me excited for the winter “nesting” season.
At this point, I am diligently praying for a safe and healthy fall and winter!
Be blessed my friend…the work of your hands will be richly rewarded!
Sending hugs your way~
Mendi
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Enjoy the remnants. I even picked the green tomatoes and made green tomato salsa. There’s still a cabinet and sink full of the little darlin’s staring at me.
Yes, it’s an addiction. Nothing more amazing than walking past the produce in the grocery story knowing you’ve got something so much better, so much fresher, so much more alive right out your back door.
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Why oh why don’t I garden? I’ve tried a couple of times, but I have ruin everything. We’re in Texas and the bugs are so horrible that I have been too discouraged to try again. This year we actually did one tomato plant and it died. 😦
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Those fresh veggies look delicious!
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Wow – what a bounty of produce!
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What beautiful tomatoes! We were living in a city apartment during the summer, (my husband works away from home most of the time) and attempted some tomatoes in containers but to no avail! I have my little raised bed that I started way too late, but so far no freeze here in the deep south, so it’s still growing.
Did you know that you can dice the bell peppers and freeze them for use throughout the winter? If you spread them on a cookie sheet until frozen, they will freeze individually and you can take out just a little at a time instead of having the thaw a whole bag.
Love your beautiful bounty!
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Ah, blight cut down my tomatoes early this year, so I didn’t get any to bring in and ripen (they all rotted on the vine before turning…). Your picture made me jealous. Luckily for us gardeners…
There’s always next year!
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