The 2013 garden is finally
over. We finished storing the last of the produce today. I prepared the last
Roma tomatoes for freezing. Dennis and I sorted the sweet potatoes, separating
the damaged ones from the sound ones. I will prepare the damaged ones first
because they won’t keep well. Dennis carried a bushel of the sound ones to the
basement, where they will keep all winter. I put the few remaining turnips in
the refrigerator vegetable drawer. I sorted the last of the peppers, giving
some to the chickens, setting some aside to dry,
and chopping the remaining
ones to sauté with onions.
The only things remaining
in the garden are a few kale and Swiss chard plants, surely destined to freeze
to death this week, and six parsley plants. Parsley, a biennial, will live
through the winter and grow tall seed stalks next summer. We always keep the
second-year parsley because it is a favorite food of the black swallowtail
butterfly caterpillar.
There’s nothing left for me
to do except keep an eye on the cold frame seedlings, which will begin to
produce in January or February. Dennis, on the other hand, still has to talk
some farmers into letting him have truckloads of manure, which he will spread
on the garden to decay under the winter snows.
My back hurts and I’m dog
tired, but now I can relax and enjoy the fruits of our labor. Bring on the
books. I’m going to read, sew, and cook until March, when the gardening season
will begin again.
Copyright
2013 by Shirley Domer
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