{ Garden Update }

This week in the garden we'll be harvesting the potatoes and onions and I'll be letting the squash limp along for a couple more weeks. We've got a warm sunny stretch coming but I'm not holding out a lot of hope for a bumper crop. We're retiring the two small beds with cover crops but will plant some more fall/winter veggies this week. Admittedly, without our CSA memberships this project would be a bust but we've learned a lot for next year.

In the kitchen we've just frozen 10 pounds of blueberries (and we're happily eating another 2 or 3). Two pounds of basil will be in my CSA order this weekend for pesto and peaches will be picked up next weekend. Apples and pears will be coming in late September. I have made the decision NOT to put up my own tomatoes, as we are fortunate enough to have a local organic company that I can buy a few cases from to get us through the winter. There is only so much processing we can do with two full time jobs. The next ten chickens will be ready for pick up next weekend and I'm putting in my final beef order for the season in October. For those keeping track, we'll have 35 chickens when all is said and done, one tom turkey for Thanksgiving, and a quarter of a side of beef. Remember, we split our last quarter in early spring and that eighth will see us through about six months. We aren't big pork eaters but I do like the ham hocks for soups and the occasional bacon on Sundays. We're trying to decide if it's worth splitting a side of pork. If anyone has experience, we'd love to hear about it.

Fall is fast approaching here in the Pacific Northwest. Summer was a short season. There may be a greenhouse in my future!