First Day of Snow

It snowed tonight! It doesn't usually snow a lot in the Willamette Valley but we got a good dose of it last night and it stuck! I danced around outside, Theresa was hurrying her outdoor plants inside, my dog was running nuttily around the yard, and the cat was second guessing her evening excursion. And though I LOVE the snow, the garden looked quite dead and sad in the dark, covered in a light, downy blanket of snow. I began to reminisce our short summer, when the garden was more lively and striving to be lush.

This was year one for the garden and it didn't do that great. We did reap a ton of tomatoes and quite a pack of peppers that, yes, we did pickle. Theresa and I spent two whole days picking jalapeño peppers and making green tomato relish. The sun all but deserted us by late June so we had quite a few green tomatoes limply clinging to the vine. The chopping was a lot of work but the picking turned out quite well. We had a few jars break in the bath but all sealed properly. We winged the pickled pepper recipe a bit and the tomato recipe was derived from a few online. We ended up with so many jars that Theresa and I still had a full shelf each of canned goods even after dividing up the stash and giving away a few jars. Though we didn't get too much else besides peppers, tomatoes, and carrots, we definitely got quite enough pickled goods to last us through the winter. I think I will be hording my peppers and eating nachos alone!

Happy Harvest!

Cerise : )