Ushering in November with a volcano...

...called Krakatoa.

Sorry, my attempt at a pun. Started off the week by cracking a toe (I don't think it's broken. The swelling and bruising are improving already). So my prediction that the yardwork and harvest were completed and it was time to rest came true! All things have screeched to a halt, and I've been spending a ridiculous amount of time (a wonderful amount of time!) on the couch with a book. Or two or three.

Reread some Robin Pilcher, and now I'm reading The Booklover's Library. Two William Kent Kruegers lined up to follow that. Meanwhile, the leaves are piling up in the yard, but other than clearing the drainage ditches in the side yard, I'm trying not to think about it. I have managed to walk Brio, a bit slower than normal, because, you know, how can you say no to that little face? For some things, you just have to push through.

Pressure Canning Pie Pumpkin

 Following USDA guidelines. And I think this is all for this harvest season! Time for a well-deserved rest.

Peelings, Nothing More Than Peelings... (she sang)

 

All the carrots and beets harvested. Thirty-three meals' worth of cooked carrots in the freezer. Two raised beds cleared out and planted with garlic. Lawn mowed. That's me for the day!

Apple Pie Filling!

Bottling a bushel of Spy apples, which are perfect for pie filling. I like having it ready-made on the shelf, so I can whip up fast desserts if unexpected company comes by. There's nothing better than apple betty with Baskin Robbins' pralines 'n cream ice cream.

This morning I've also blanched and frozen a lot of carrots, with many more to go. I also froze some of the tomatoes, because they're coming out of the garden faster than we can eat them. Later I'll pull them from the freezer to make pasta sauce, but there isn't time for that now.

I spent yesterday evening shelling beans and collecting zinnia seeds. I probably have more beans in storage now than we'll ever need, but I can't stop growing them; they're so cute.

Autumn is finally here, and fall tasks are ramping up in the garden

Other parts of Canada have had snow already, but we're still enjoying hot weather. It was 21 celsius yesterday, with the bluest sky and pops of crimson and gold in the forests. I absolutely love this time of year! Baked apples, the crunch of leaves underfoot, hot cuppas in the evening. Winter is the time for turning inward, spring breaks your hopeful heart, and summer is flat-out busy, but autumn is just cheerful.

I've spent three weeks at the church we're renovating, so when I get home later this week, it will be time to hit the ground running. I need to lop the heads off the catalpa trees at the bottom of the driveway, give the grass a last mow, bottle the apples I've been storing in my fridge (yes, a bushel of Spy apples actually fits!), and plant the garlic. I also need to dig out a couple of the raised beds to sieve the soil and try to get rid of the Jerusalem artichokes that are trying to take over. I want to move my three raspberry bushes from their pots into one of these beds. I also want to relocate my lavender from its scattered positions to one long bed running the length of the garden. This will be followed by raking and mulching the maple leaves to use in my veggie beds. Putting away the tools and cleaning the lawn mower. Maybe filling in some low spots in the yard with limestone screening and pavers to slope winter's snow melt away from the foundations. Giving the hedge a final trim. Putting away patio furniture and wind chimes. Starting the lettuce for the hydroponics system. Inventorying seeds and designing next year's garden.

Ah, there's the crux of it. Every year I tell myself I'll scale back, not garden as much, give myself a bit of a break. And every year I start looking at the remaining seeds in my stash and plotting out how to use them, and I end up with as much work or more than the year before. I am torn between "sit with a book in the shade and enjoy the breeze" and "grow as much food as I can because the world is burning down." If I turned some of it into a more permaculture-based garden, there might be less manual work involved down the road. Permaculture tends to focus on fruit, though, not annual veggies (it's in the name, really), but my family eats more veggies than fruit. My husband goes so far as to suggest I grow less fruit because it's mostly used in desserts, and we're trying to slim down.

I have a couple of raised beds that are beginning to fall apart, and I'm thinking of taking them out, smoothing off one half of the garden, putting down wood chips, and turning it into a) a couple of rows of grapes, or b) two dwarf apple trees with strawberries below them, or c) a big plot of hills to grow squash and cucumbers in, or d) a single shade tree with a bench below it, maybe with a small water feature, or e) a little studio for writing in to escape my crowded house and the chilis a certain person insists on cooking with (to which I'm allergic), or f) a small greenhouse where I can grow seedlings and sit in the winter sunshine without freezing to death. You see the tug-of-war between wanting to sit and wanting to be as productive as possible. Anyway, it would still leave me with seven beds to plant in, instead of the current eleven, so maybe less weeding, at least. Of the above options, which do you vote for? Let me know! At this point, I may have to draw from a hat.

It's a question I ask myself every year: Am I slowing down or ratcheting up? Staying active is healthy and probably keeps me young, but it also is hard on the body and anchors me here in this spot, when I want to be travelling. Even reducing the number of beds doesn't make that much difference when it comes to watering and having to be here... At the same time, I want to be here! I love my garden above anywhere else. And at the same time, I have grandbabies to visit and a church to renovate...

Sigh. I've really got to learn to just be, wherever I am, without wanting to be elsewhere, and to immerse myself in what I'm doing without feeling I should be doing something else.

An older photo of the layout. I'm considering levelling out the lefthand side. Sunlight comes from the right.

The joy of fresh farm eggs

My friend Erin gifted me a dozen eggs from her hens. The colours are amazing, from bronze to khaki to blue. My camera doesn't do them justice. Such variety in the world! Does the colour change the taste? No, but it gives me joy.

It's the same feeling when I grow my own dry cooking beans. So many varieties to choose from, hundreds if not thousands, but if you go to a grocery store, there are maybe 4 or 5 kinds on offer.

Conflicting Wants

We've been invited to a wedding up north, for which my husband will play the bagpipes. It's a four-hour drive and will include a two-night stay in beautiful cottage country, with kayaking and good food and friends. I'm excited about going and have been mentally packing for days.

At the same time, it means leaving my Velcro dog behind with my son. I know it won't kill him (or my son), but still, I've rarely been away from Brio, especially in the past five years since Covid. It also means leaving my garden, where tomatoes are still ripening and bean pods are still drying. Again, it won't harm anything to leave it for a few days. 

I love to travel and explore new places. I did a semester in Wales and I've gone to Italy a couple of times. I've been the the sub-Arctic and the American West. I've been to Hawaii multiple times. I dream of exploring the Maritimes, the Yukon, British Columbia. Further afield, I wish I could visit New Zealand and Ireland and Iceland. I keep my suitcase in my bedroom closet, where it's ready to snatch and go at a moment's notice.

I also hate leaving home. I dig my roots deep into my garden, I surround myself with my books and yarn and loom, and I feel I could snuggle down and never move an inch ever again. When I'm at home, I wish I were up at the church we're renovating, and when I'm at the church, I wish I were at home. The pull is so uncomfortable that I've considered selling one of the properties to avoid that conflict.

How to reconcile these two opposite attractions? Why can't I just be content being wherever I am? I think part of it is a control issue -- I micromanage everything, to my own irritation, and I want to be here making sure it all ticks along as it's supposed to. While I yearn for adventure, I also yearn for stability and comfort. So...

I'm going to try to practise being in the moment, right here, wherever I am. I don't have to choose which I like best, I can just enjoy whatever I'm experiencing right now. I tell myself this, but somehow it doesn't ever resolve itself.