Last Harvest - Gifts from the Garden

Pumpkins from my garden.

It is chilly and cloudy today as the weather in Utah turns from almost record breaking warm autumn days to the temperatures we should actually have this time of year.  With a freeze warning in the forecast this week, it was a good morning to get outside and see what was left in the garden. 

Orange and purple carrots.

It has become a tradition to grow purple carrots in our garden, as well as the more traditional orange ones.  The purple carrots have orange centers, and look wonderful sliced in a salad.  They have a great flavor when cooked, and will turn the cooking water purple.

Beets and eggplant.

The beets grew really well in one section of the garden, but were smaller in another part.  Despite some neglect to the garden this summer on my part, I still have a bucket of beets, potatoes, and carrots that will be great roasted with fresh herbs.

Swiss Chard

The red chard finally put on a growth spurt and looked pretty mingled with the green variety.  

Cherry tomatoes

Our cherry tomatoes were quite prolific this summer, and will be greatly missed.  We grew two varieties, and ate them like candy right out of the garden.  I picked through the ones left on the vine, and brought them in the house to escape the pending frost.

Last of the cherry tomatoes

Concord grapes

The grapes that line our back fence have been a bit ignored this summer as well.  The vines get a good pruning each spring, and then we wish them well the rest of the year.  Last year the mice ate most of the grapes, but this year the fruit fared better.  These concords are wonderful juiced or in jelly.

Serrano peppers

Some like it hot!  This little plant produced more hot peppers than I could use, although we threw a couple in our homemade salsa.  I picked a few to bring in for my son to eat (his palate tolerates more heat than mine!)

Jalapenos, serranos, and anaheims, oh my!

Looks like a good week to make fajitas.  These are the last peppers from my garden for this year.

Potatoes

This year we had odds and ends of potatoes:  red, finger, and more.  It is always interesting to dig in the fall and see what happened under the surface during the summer. 

Sage

My sage grows like a weed and added a great flavor to refrigerator pickles when combined with rosemary.  The basil didn't do as well this year, but nothing beats herbs fresh out of the garden.

Rosemary

My kitchen is filled with the scent of rosemary and sage, and it is wonderful!  The cornstalks and pumpkins will decorate my door from Halloween to Thanksgiving, and remind me to be grateful for the ability to grow fresh food in my own yard.  Autumn is a beautiful time of year, and it was a decent harvest!  I've also got a box of green tomatoes that I will allow to ripen in the dark of my basement.  We should have good tomatoes for a few more weeks to come.

 Our scarecrow.

HAPPY HARVEST!