season

 a whole month since i last posted. time speeds by this time of year. especially this stretch between thanksgiving and xmas.

 i xmas-ified my house just in time for this strangely warm, non-xmasy weather. it's 10 at night right now and almost 60 degrees, i even have the windows open, with a nice cool breeze blowing through.

 i thrifted a pair of hand-knit stockings for the boys, and three mini stockings for the ladies (anyone have chicken stocking-stuffer ideas? i can't think of anything they'd want besides food.)

 i put up my tree last weekend. all the ornaments are handmade--i still need to figure out a tree topper.

 jason and cam came over for "white friday" craft night. jason spun dog fur into yarn while cam and i made xmas tree ornaments. i found a couple neat dough recipes on pinterest--a porcelain-looking one made out of corn starch, baking soda and water, and a gingerbread-colored one made out of apple sauce and cinnamon.

 i collected random objects to press into the dough, and cam brought a set of letter presses.

 the pups made paw print ornaments. i was going to attempt chicken footprint ones, but these were enough of a struggle.

 i made an egg-shaped ornament with their initials instead:

 the applesauce/cinnamon ornaments smell so damn good...

 ...and so do these clementine pomander balls.

 roasted brussels sprouts with homemade garlic aioli for white friday snack. i've made this twice in the last week, it's so yummy.

 a living xmas tree for my kitchen. it's an italian stone pine, supposed to produce edible pine nuts when it gets bigger.

 on thanksgiving the chickens enjoyed their own feast before the dogs and i headed over to my parents' for dinner. they scarfed down a bowl of warm oatmeal with homegrown tomatoes and a side of sprouted wheat berries. they contributed eggs to our thanksgiving dessert, bread pudding.

 i thrifted another ceramic egg crate like the one cam gave me, only this one holds a full dozen.

 this is the reason i can't leave chairs pushed in next to tables anywhere around the house. i worked from home last week, writing about TV tuner software. one afternoon i returned from the bathroom to find potato working in xmetal.

 my cute boys cuddling on the couch, fast asleep.

 potato wearing his warm sweater, shortly before i trimmed his hair. he was so shaggy.

 a flattering picture of scout, from election night. he was so excited about obama he almost passed out.

 potato kept stealing andy's bed, so i got him one of his own. at first he just wanted to play with it and carry it around the house. andy immediately recognized its comfyness potential, and totally disregarded the size limitations. he kept trying to scrunch his big snausage-dog body into this tiny cat bed, diving in and squirming until his front half was mostly in. eventually he quit trying. now potato understands what to do with it, but he still steals andy's bed sometimes.

 mid-november tomato harvest, can you believe it? i still have some left. these ripened indoors, but at my parents' house a few miles away they didn't get a frost until sometime in november. my mom was harvesting vine-ripened tomatoes up until about three weeks ago. boise's micro-climates are crazy.

 in september i made gallons of delicious end-of-the-garden salsa. lots of tomatillos, at least a dozen varieties of tomato and half a dozen varieties of pepper. very complex flavor. all fresh, nothing cooked, all homegrown (except for the fresh-squeezed lime juice and some seasonings).

 i gave away most of it and it was all gone in just a couple of weeks. i brought a 32oz jar and tortilla chips to my mom for her birthday, and she nommed half the jar in one sitting. she's a very light eater, i don't think i've ever seen her eat that much all at once.

 the first seed catalogue, from seed savers exchange, arrived in the mail a few days ago. that means it's officially garden-porn-swooning season, when everything's all excitement and fantasy and potential. it seems like summer just barely ended.

harvest moonfest, fall veggies and jack frost carnage

 the first frost hit thursday the 4th of this month. there was about a week of cool weather with temperatures right around freezing every night, and eventually all my non-hardy garden plants died, except for the ones i brought inside and the ones i covered with blankets. all my tomatoes, basils, and both naranjilla plants are still alive. now it's warmer again, but very fall-like.

 the last saturday of september, right before the weather turned chilly, i hosted a harvest moon celebration. homegrown veggie cookout, tomato tasting, vegan potluck, and so much beer. it was a fabulous time and the weather was perfect--low 80s/upper 70s to start, and stayed in the 60s late into the night.

 this is the tomato tasting table. i put out samples of all the varieties i had ripe at the time. the crowd favorite was chocolate stripe, a strikingly beautiful, salty, super-flavorful beefsteak (my favorite too):

 i made wild rice, homegrown veggie salsa, and grilled squash and potatoes. victoria and kim brought a very tasty and complex savory pineapple salad, jeanne and kyle brought some huge, fancy homegrown eggplants for the grill, andrea brought a fantastic vegan huckleberry crumble made with berries she picked herself. there was way too much delicious food.

 unfortunately i didn't get photos while guests were here. it was a challenging day, i'd had a cold for a few days in the week leading up--so instead of cleaning house/yard and prepping as planned, all week i was letting dishes pile up and being tired and unmotivated. i ended up having to do everything on saturday, starting at 7 in the morning and finishing minutes before people began arriving. it put me in such a surprisingly good mood though, since i'd already gone past the point of exhaustion, i was deliriously happy the whole evening.

 poor little potato was stung by a wasp during the party! i hadn't noticed there's a wasp nest at the base of the apple tree, and he stuck his head right in there and got stung on the ear. it was the saddest thing. he didn't yelp or cry, but he ran around like he was on fire, shaking his head and looking horrified. after a while he calmed down and was just deeply, deeply sad the rest of the night. he sulked around the yard throwing himself at peoples' feet for sympathy. he was fine the next morning, and the swelling went away after just a few days. but he's still afraid of the apple tree.

 recent harvests and garden photos:

 nepalese bell peppers have elegant flowers. the peppers themselves are crazy looking:

 my giant pot of basil is taking up more than its share of space in the mudroom. i was planning on keeping it into the winter, but now i think i'll harvest and preserve it or try to use it up fast.

 corno de toro gaillo and sweet bell peppers. they started turning ripe colors after i brought them inside. best bell peppers i've ever grown--heavy, thick walls, delicious.

 anatomically correct japanese black trifele tomato.

 udumalpet eggplant.

 tomatillos are so very pretty.

 my apple harvest this year was completely non-existent. the squirrels stole every single apple.

 i didn't even know squirrels liked apples that much. i'm at peace with the lack of apples, because the squirrels left all my other plants alone. didn't take a single tomato. i'd much rather have tomatoes than apples.

 i can't believe summer is over and it's almost halloween. has frost hit yet where you are?