Northwest Autumn

How I love FALL in the NW! The cool and crisp clean air, the succulent colors! Yes, I have to say “succulent” because they are SO yummy! (a word my NRG teacher likes to use and is so appropriate!). I took a walk through Brownes Addition a few days ago with a friend and what a joy that was! We spent a few hours kicking our way through inches of brilliant, red, yellow and orange carpets of leaves, as we took in the historical setting and homes/mansions of earlier Spokane. We finished off our visit settled deeply into the comfy couch in front of the fireplace at the neighborhood Café Capri, with steaming hot mugs of drip, discussing Hopes recent trip to the Hamptons and NYC. Speaking of Fall Splendor, I’ve been back east in the fall a few times and even what I’m enjoying here can’t rival THOSE colors.

Work in my garden has come to an end, I have to report my experiment with straw bale gardening didn’t do well this first year. I believe it was due to the late start this spring, I needed to ‘prep’ the bales weeks earlier than I did, even using plastic hoods to help warm them up and allow earlier plantings. I DID see several successful straw bale gardens around town this summer and talked with a few gardeners who were generous in their advice and experiences with this mode of planting. I basically just grew my garden as ‘usual’, in the ground this summer but hope to try straw bales again next year as well as put in some raised beds. Btw, the picture here is NOT my garden, I just wanted to include a picture of a successful straw bale garden lol.

I spent yesterday yanking out the far too many tomato plants I grew this year…they virtually took over the space! While many never had a chance to fully ripen, the season started late this year, I collected a few dozen of the green tomatos from off the vines about two weeks ago, wrapped in newspaper, set in a box with a few apples and put in my broom closet. I have been delighted to see them redden up, we’ve been enjoying such yummy fare as grilled tomato and cheese sandwiches, and cream of tomato soup the past week. The last few I collected yesterday are now securely blanketed in newsprint as we speak. I also dug up and repotted some of my chili pepper plants and herbs to winter over in front of my large downstairs windows. I have a hard time ‘letting go’ as you can see! Tending to these plants will brighten my long winter days as I await springs return and a new planting season.