fall

i realized that, contrary to my usual m.o., this is the last picture that i had posted of my garden, and i really haven't talked about it much since then.

now it looks like this. it's quite the jungle. every year, we learn more and more about gardening. for instance, even though i really like tomatoes, sixteen plants was too much for the space and they ended up competing too much. only the front ones really produced like they were supposed to. don't get me wrong, we would have used the tomatoes from all sixteen plants if they had been productive (i'm aching for more tomatoes to can), but it was too ambitious for such a small plot. i feel like a hunter, wading through the jungle, every time i go out to pick.

also, no matter how much i like the idea of zucchini, i get sick of it by the end of the season. and with a small freezer, even two plants was too much this year.

and cucumbers don't vine well. they need their space to run. sad.

but, we've still had lots of tomatoes. we've eaten plenty, i've canned 20 jars of marinara sauce so far, hope to do more this weekend, and i've dried a ton of yellow pear tomatoes.

one of the awesome things about the house we are renting is that it has a nice little peach tree in the yard. not too big that it is overwhelming, but enough that we are going to be able to can, freeze, and eat the peaches from it. they have just started to ripen in the last week, so today madeleine and i went out and picked all of the fruit. in a couple days, we will be up to our ears in ripe peaches.

the tree is small enough that even madeleine could reach some of the peaches.

after picking the peaches, diane woke up from her nap and joined us outside to play.

still waking up...

not really sure...

good to go.

have i mentioned that i love fall? i love the harvest and the rush to preserve all of the food that is suddenly upon us. it's the payoff for a season of labor in the heat.

i love the crisp mornings and warm afternoons. sweater season around the corner. i love the changing colors. i love looking out my window and seeing bursts of color on the mountain. can't wait to drive up the canyon. i love the change and the move towards the holidays.

it's a great season.