Garden to Table Challenge - Week Nine

Ahh, the end of garden season.

We had our first frost the other night, effectively murdering the tomatoes, peppers, and beans. Can fresh tomato season really be over already? It feels like it only just begun...

Oh right. It did just begin. Because we've had the strangest weather ever here in the High Desert. Our average first frost is September 16th. This year, we were barely harvesting tomatoes by then! Thankfully the weather held out another month, so at least we did get to enjoy the best of summer's garden produce.

But now, it's come to an end. I made our last batch of fresh-from-the-garden tomato soup for dinner the other night.

The last of the peppers made the last meal of stuffed bell peppers tonight.

We had garden-fresh stir fry for the last time the night before that - fresh broccoli, carrots, green beans, leeks and chard. Stir-fry makes frequent appearances on our table all through summer - at least once or twice a week, beginning in April or May. I'll be sad to see it go, though I have a feeling the children are rejoicing.

It's time now to start serving soup, stew, and chili, time to start breaking into the Winter Stores from the basement.

And it's time to start flipping through seed catalogs and sketching garden plans on graph paper.

Goodnight, sweet garden. I've enjoyed you tremendously. Have a nice rest, and we'll see you next spring.