Fall Report: The Final Harvest

Fall is officially here.

We've pulled in the meager offerings from the garden and are getting ready to till the ground in preparation for next year.

We waited too long to plant, so some of the produce didn't mature before the first frost.

It was a learning experience.

All in all we got a gallon and a half bag of carrots, which is about 1/2 to 3/4 less than expected, because not all the seeds sprouted.
The two Big Boy tomato plants produced a few tomatoes, just enough to satisfy a few toasted tomato and basil sandwiches (any excuse to make fresh bread), but the grape and cherry tomato plant kept us in just enough tomatoes for delicious salads...paired with artisan lettuce, that despite the frost, and light snow-fall today, continues to persist in the garden (along with the Swiss chard, in abundance and a lone small head of broccoli...the brave little thing).

Sadly only one of the potato plants made it, and its entire offspring will be in tonight's dinner.

We planted too many radishes, far too many...and they all came up. And got giant. And weird shaped. You could tell where they bolted in high heat, and then got stunted, and then bolted again. Ugly.

The garden, overall, kept us in various produce through mid-July - beans, Swiss chard, zucchini (SO MANY ZUCCHINI) - until we pulled out the last of the melons, and small amount of squash, this past Friday. The overall strange combinations of what did and didn't grow is likely attributed to both the late planting, and the poor weather conditions this summer.

Considering our first garden was as successful as it turned out, we're already looking forward to next Spring, we'll be starting some pants indoors, planting on time, and adjusting the quantities, adding some new items to the list, and crossing our fingers. Maybe next year there will be enough of something to can (the cantaloupe got dehydrated for winter porridge),.

Tonight, tonight we feast!
A 100% home grown dinner of:
Roast chicken (raised and slaughtered by dad), with roasted garden fresh potatoes and carrots, sauteed Swiss chard, and baby beets. Garnished with fresh basil.
Of course the flour in the gravy, and butter, were store bought, but the chicken stock in the gravy is from scratch.