Fall Has Fallen

It is not official yet, but Fall has fallen. Afternoons are beautiful, the air is crisp and although we have not had our first hard frost, there have been a few mornings that the low areas were shall I say "frost-y". So, what does this mean for me... it means packing a few seasons worth of gear for my oldest's football games, it means it is harder for me to get up in the early morning when it is dark, it means I want to go to bed earlier because it is dark earlier,

it means our corn and soybeans are ready for harvest,it means the air conditioner has been turned off and it also means that the heat gets turned on for a bit in the mornings to take the chill out of the air. Despite all this and more, the falling of Fall means that it is time to harvest the last of the garden goodies.

For those who have visited my home and have seen my garden it is big, but not large. Each year I experiment with several different fruits and veggies and plant around the 2 apple trees growing on one side. This year I was fortunate to have most of my plants grow,some almost too well, and provide goodies for my family, extended family, friends and our local school hot lunch program. It also provided most of the snacks during the summer for my kids. When they were hungry, they went to the garden instead of the pantry. My snack expense for June and July was next to nothing... YAH HOO!

I have come to enjoy most of the work that my garden takes. My entire family has fun planting the seeds and seedlings, watching it grow and eating from it. But I have to admit, that Fall is the hardest time of the gardening season for me. With the cooler temps it is not as inviting to spend time removing plants and collecting the last of the colorful produce.Chopping, dicing, canning and freezing odds and ends takes more time too due to the small batches of many different things. I also need to find a place in my freezer and pantry to store the last few bags and jars. Sometimes it is a tight squeeze, but by summer there always seems to be lots of room. This means we enjoyed all the work all winter and spring and kept our tastebuds and tummies full with flavorful, healthy food! Gardening is good, even when Fall is falling!