Harvesting

We woke to grey skies and chilly winds. The kind of wind that bends trees and makes the leaves dance from their limbs and swirl around the yard. I started a batch of bread after breakfast while the children colored together on the livingroom floor. We hustled to get everyone out the door on time to the bus and then chatted with Daddy on the phone while he drove in to work. When I had finished on the phone Fin looked at me and let out a frustrated sigh, "NOW can you help me play pipano?"

We had a slow morning finishing the bread, vacuuming the floors and tidying bedrooms. When I looked out the window I noticed a few flakes of snow swirling around with the leaves. The snow had arrived as promised. We spent the rest of the morning hurrying back and forth from the greenhouse, bringing in the produce before it got too cold. The snow surprised us coming so early and we were trying out best to get in as much of the harvest as we could. "I can see a pickle!" Fin yelled, as he looked up at the tall cucumber plant. His perspective from the ground helped us find a lot of hidden "pickles" which we piled into a box and brought inside.

While we worked, Fin chatted away. "I can see my breath! It's cold in here!" Fin exclaimed as we picked tomatoes from the vine. We had crates of tomatoes inside already, but wanted to make sure we didn't waste any. I think we calculated around 1200lbs of tomatoes this year.

Soon we had rosy cheeked boys, and drippy noses. We bundled in warm sweaters and jackets while the crisp air nipped our noses. In the afternoon the boys went up to the orchard with Gramma and Grampa to help do a quick pick of the apple trees.

While this cold snap stays we will be canning tomatoes and salsa and pasta sauce and whatever else we can create.

In the late afternoon I turned on the oven and made up some carrot, apple, zuchini muffins. We roasted a fresh chicken for dinner and ate it with garden potatoes. The best comfort food around.