And Just Like That, Gardening Season Is Over

I knew this day would come. You can't stop time or the changing of seasons. It's true, by the end of August I'm usually growing a little tired of tending the garden and the very time consuming act of canning is in full swing. Even so, when October and it's threat of freezes and frosts rolls around I am saddened by the imminent end of gardening season. Here in Iowa, most of October was absolutely gorgeous. The temperatures were consistently warm, we had days and weeks of blue skies with just enough rain sprinkled in. However, last week the night time temperatures started to take steeper dives and I knew I could no longer delay picking my tomatoes green.

Seeing perfectly good food go to waste is extremely difficult for me, so of course I cannot help myself when going through the plants. I am compelled to pick every potentially useful tomato. Some of them may not be mature enough to ripen well, but I figure it's worth a shot. If I don't pick them for ripening they will go into the compost or if I pick them and they rot or shrivel up before they ripen they will still go into the compost. 

My son, Asher saw me bringing in all the green tomatoes and asked me to bring in some of his sungolds too. Surprisingly I had over looked that plant because I generally leave it to him to pick over and snack from. Since they ripen so quickly I also didn't know how they would do picked green or how the flavor would be, but I again figured, "What the heck?" So I picked as many of the fully grown sungolds that I could find and brought them in.

The tomatoes that I picked green are ripening beautifully and still taste delicious! I will definitely not give up on that plant as early next year.

It is always nice to be able to leave the cold hardy greens in the ground a little longer than the tomatoes, but last night the low was forecast to be 23 degrees and since some of the kale was already looking a little weary, it was time to call it quits.

I planted my greens a little differently this summer. Spinach had it's own patch in the main garden and it produced prolifically for a few weeks this spring. I was elated! . . . But it gave me nothing this fall. The kale and broccoli I planted in a small patch up near the house. Instead of planting it in rows, I broadcast the seed in two square patches and let it all come up until it was a satisfying baby green size. Then I started clipping plants out when I needed them for recipes or juicing. This way allowed me to use every plant that sprouted and grew, but my patch never became too crowded. I have had a solid supply of fresh greens since April. I am surprised I was not tearful when I had to go out and cut all the plants out last night. 

In addition to all the green leaves I even had a couple of beautiful second heads of broccoli. 

Tonight I will finish up the season by prepping the extra leaves for freezing and that will be that. All in all it was a satisfying year. I used lots of fresh herbs, especially mint, harvested way more spinach than I could have hoped for, had a satisfying crop of tomatoes, green beans and small pumpkins and I enjoyed six and half months of fresh greens. I did more canning this year than I have ever done before, but I can say for certain that what I put up will still not last us through the year. We'll be lucky if we have enough canned tomato products to last us through December, but I'll enjoy each and every jar of them and that fresh tomato smell that wafts up with the pop of each lid.

Short Trip Through the Heartland to St. Louis

My beloved sister moved to Nashville about a year ago. A drive, that while it could be done in one day from Iowa, is more comfortable in two days. This amounts to a big investment in time when you factor in the actual visit. Time is something that we're getting shorter on with three kids in school and activities. So it makes sense to occasionally meet in St. Louis, which is located halfway almost to the mile. This time we each went kid free. 

I loaded up our new-to-us car with the necessities - my camera, tripod and art supplies and headed south on an absolutely gorgeous sunny day. 

Making the drive by myself was a real treat. Windows down, music of my Own choice playing "at the appropriate level", watching the golden fields roll by. 

Before I go to far I have to make a few comments about how much I LOVE this car. For most of the thirteen years of our marriage we have only had one car. It has worked well because for all the pre-kid years I either rode my bike or took public transportation to grad school or work and that freed up the car for Eric to take to work. When we moved to Iowa he began driving a vehicle for work which freed up the car for me to use to chauffeur the kids around. On the weekends we were usually all together, so again, not a problem. As the kids have been getting older and involved in a few weekend activities here and there we did start to feel the minor pinch of growing inconvenience. We found this 1995 Nissan Maxima for a whopping $50 on a tip from my mother-in-law (with a full tank of gas). It could have had real problems, but after talking to the previous mechanics that looked at the car shortly before our purchase and driving it a little we determined that everything was fine and went for it. Even if it didn't last long it would ease a burden short term and we wouldn't be out much money when it did die. As it has all turned out it was equivalent to a winning lottery ticket. This car runs great! I'm so thrilled to have something smaller and more fuel efficient than our "family vehicle" to run around in when we don't need to haul the whole family. 

When I get in it I feel at least 10 years younger for some reason and I am moved to listen to all sorts of music from my youth including The Violent Femmes, Red Hot Chilli Peppers or Sarah McLachlan if I feel like singing. I've come to the conclusion that it is because this car doesn't own me. It's paid for! I have no worries when I am driving down the road. I . . . AM . . . FREE! Yes, it has some hail damage. Yes, there is a a loose connection between the two front speakers requiring that I occasionally bang on the dash to get the right one to come back on. These things just give it more character. I've never cared about cars, I've never seen them as a status symbol, but more of a waste of money for all the crazy features beyond the necessities of safety. This car suits me just fine. I'll be driving it until it's demise and then we'll replace it with another used car with character that will most likely not be as inexpensive, but will also at least be paid for up front with no loan. The only way to go from now on. 

Moving on . . .

Part of my hope for the weekend was that I would have time to stop and take pictures of the gorgeous scenery of harvest season along the way. Most of the first half of the trip was a four lane highway and stopping to take pictures would have involved making a quick decision to pull off on whatever side road quickly appeared. It was too stressful to check out the scenery and decide to pull over so quickly. So I stopped to get something to drink, turned off the navigation and looked at a map for some county roads. When I arrived in Hannibal, MO I found my way to highway 79 and finished my trek to St. Louis on this road. It was exactly what I was looking for. Slower speed, much of it along the Mississippi River and through country fields. I stopped at every scenic overlook and several times along the road where there was a nice wide shoulder or spot to pull off. It was glorious.

And finally I made it to St. Louis after night fall and spent some quality time with my sister.