Rainy Day, Oct 11, ’14

Green tomatoes and one blue Morning Glory

Today is wet, chilly and gray.  That’s the all day forecast.  It’s perfect weather for sleeping-in and sitting on the couch wrapped in a comforter with a 3^rd cuppa and a warm cat, watching the drizzle filling the air.  It’s not exactly raining, the air is full of fat and heavy water droplets.  The mailman just walked by; he appears to be covered with dew.

According to the 5-day, the weather will improve after today.  This is good news.  So far, we’ve yet to have a frost or temps lower than 40 degrees, which to me is wonderful considering that we’re heading for mid-October.

I’m still picking kale from my garden and have about 20 green tomatoes hanging on the vines as well as one tiny pumpkin.  I’m hoping for a few sunny days so perhaps the tomatoes and pumpkin will ripen further.  I’ve given away many green tomatoes to a friend with a large family who “just love” fried green tomatoes.  After one or two, I’ve had my fill and am happy to give them to a friend.  I’m still picking raspberries from the canes in my front yard.  A few more sunny days will see the end of those but while they’re coming, I keep picking.

This little neighbor has been roving the neighborhood while his young owners are in school. She’s eaten quite a bit of my Kale. Good thing I have an overabundance!

I’ve had an abundance of garden vegetables, flowers and berries this summer for which I’m profoundly grateful.  I have an abundance of Tomatoes, Kale, Raspberries, Zucchini and Peppers in my freezer to keep me going in the winter months.  I also have an abundance of fermented kale, also from my garden.  It tastes somewhat like sauerkraut.  If nothing else, it will be good to add to soups that I’ll be making in cold weather.

Soon this tiny pumpkin will be soup!

I’m almost ready for Frost.  Most of my houseplants are inside or have been brought to the porch outside the back door, waiting to come in.  I have coverings at the ready for anything left outside I may want to save from frost.

The predominant color of the foliage in my heavily wooded part of the world is a deep and dark green with patches of yellow, red and orange.  Grassy areas are vivid green —  because of today’s drizzle and because we had a cool and relatively damp summer the grass never got brown or stopped growing.  I’m waiting for more leaves to fall so I can collect some for mulch and add to my compost.  So far, there’s not an abundance of fallen leaves.

Today I plan to take advantage of this Rainy Day by settling down on my couch & curling up next to my warm cat for a good long read which will probably morph into a good long nap.

I’ll be bringing in this begonia for the Winter.

Happy Autumn!