Final harvest

It's nearing the end of October, already past Thanksgiving. The weather forecast is for a low of -2C tonight. To me, that signals time to harvest the last of my crop.

This morning, I picked the last eight large tomatoes and enough cherry tomatoes to fill a large collander. I'm hoping the smaller tomatoes will ripen and be tasty enough to eat, or at least to cook with. The larger ones have been disappointing. They have a pulpy flesh that's unpleasant. So they'll go in the pot and get canned for use in sauces.

I then wrestled the triffid-like plants from the ground and stuffed two of 'em into my composter. The other two will have to wait until the first ones compost down a bit. They're sitting in an unused corner of the garden to wither. I also pulled up the last two tiny carrots and chopped the chard, which has gorgeous, rich colour. I didn't pull the roots out, in hopes that we might get just a little bit more before winter.

Now there's just a bit of cleanup, a bit more digging and some raking to do before the long winter (I'm a little worried about where to put all the seedlings come spring, given the size of next year's garden). Oh, and I'll gather leaves from the front to spread over the beds. They'll mulch down over the winter and provide some much-needed humus.

For now, though, I've got a few pounds of tomatoes ripening, a drawer half-full of carrots and enough chard for a couple more meals. All in all, it's been a good first season.