A Visit from Jack Frost

My garden has come to the end of its life for the year. Monday morning brought with it a heavy frost that sucked the last bits of life from the cosmos and shriveled the leaves of the vibrant red bell pepper. A few of the herbs look like they will hold on for a few more days, maybe a couple of weeks even. But other than that the only plant in my garden that doesn't seem to have been affected by the frost is the tomato plant, I'm not sure how it manages to survive the frost when the rest of the plants are so shriveled but it has and I think we will have to make use of a few more tomatos, either that or let them sit on the counter until they're too soft and then toss them out, but I don't really like to do that.

A little Light Reading

For my birthday I received a lovely book that I have been wanting since I saw it on the gardening shelves in Borders last February.

When I first received "Down the Garden Pathway" I set it aside since I was in the midst of about nine other books and I couldn't quite fit another book in. But school has settled down a little bit now and I am finding some extra time in which to do some light reading. My companion for the last couple of weeks has been the tales of this Englishman/ Gardener. Beverly Nichols has an amazing garden and has a delightful way of telling his anecdotes and bits of gardening advice.

I am coming to the end of this book, and am rather loath to read the last pages, I have enjoyed reading the short snippets of the life of an English gardener. The book is laid out in a manner that makes it easy to read in the odd moments when there isn't quite enough time to do anything else. I have taken it to work and read it on my ten minute breaks every two hours. It is amazing how much reading someone can fit into ten minutes.

It might have been a little top heavy. . .

Moon Child's birthday cake, er. . . mud slide.

It has come to my attention. . .

. . .that it's national dessert month. Guess what that means? I have a really good excuse to make something sweet, not that I needed an excuse, but if I did need an excuse, this is it!

Welcome to October

The breeze is beginning to strip the trees of their leaves, and it looks like autumn in the yard. Brown curled leaves are blown against the back of the fence, and the garden is starting to come to the end of its blooming days, it's time to start planning what I will do with that round space during this winter, I was inspired to try winter gardening back in August but still haven't really explored what my growing options are in this region.

I was out for a Sunday afternoon stroll on this beautiful autumn day and could smell the change of seasons in the air. It was warm out but there was a nice breeze blowing so it wasn't hot, just a small slice of summer to enjoy before the weather turns cold. The traces of someone's bon fire lingered in the air, and walnuts littered the sidewalk. It felt so wonderful to wander the neighborhood and take note of the signs of a changing climate. A few trees show glimpses of red and orange leaves, and the autumn crocuses are blooming in abundance.

It's going to be a beautiful autumn, and October seems bright indeed!