The winter squash and peppers were harvested on Tuesday afternoon.

September 30, 2015 - Wednesday

28 degrees/clear/calm winds

Pentoga Road

The heavy frost on the ground makes everything look as though it snowed during the night. Summer's over. Of that, I'm certain.

Tuesday was a busy one. Neighbor Mike was a no-show, so fishing was out. I'm really going to give him a hard time when I see him next. I was all dressed up with no where to go. No muskie fishing. 

I did work the entire day in the shop and can say that it is done, but not without a bit of muttering.

Trying to wrestle this several hundred pound band saw through the door. It fit... barely.

In the end, everything found it's place and other than a few nuts and bolts to eventually get into the right bins, I officially pronounced the shop finished!

The next phase will be to build the solar heating system, but that won't happen for awhile. There are more pressing things to do outside before snow falls.

Yooper Brother Mark asked if I'd seen the freeze warning issued by the National Weather Service. It was time to pick the garden clean. I told him to come out and get all the tomatoes he and Sheri wanted. I spent over two hours doing the same for us.

These black cherry tomatoes are some of the sweetest I've ever grown. They'll be in next year's garden.

A wheelbarrow was filled with various types of winter squash... butternut, delecata, and buttercup.

Butternut bush squash

The peppers were also picked clean. These were the biggest I've ever grown.

I spent a bit of time after Mark left sitting on the bench, looking at what had been so beautiful just a month ago. The plants are dead or dying and it's time to put the garden to sleep for another winter. This has been the best growing season I've ever had. 

The various beans will be picked (dry) in the next few weeks to be used in soups this coming winter. We had a bumper crop this year.

I even found one last ripe ever bearing strawberry

The final act was to cover the giant pumpkin with a heavy quilt so it wouldn't freeze overnight. If we have many freezing nights, I'm going to have to move it sooner rather than later.

Our garage looks like a terrarium with all the outside plants overnighting inside. We're going to stretch the growing season just as long as we can.

The local grocery had split chicken breasts on sale for $1.49 a pound a couple of weeks ago. I couldn't resist. Sargie was home early last night and I made pan fried chicken strips while Sargie whipped up a batch of mashed potatoes. It was chilly outside... comfort food!

Mark texted last night and said they had shredded three of the four heads of cabbage he'd gotten from our garden the day before yesterday. They ended up with 27.5 pounds of cabbage cut up and had run out of room. The fourth head will be cooked in a regular manner. 

Sargie works early today. After the usual morning walk, my goal is to get the barn cleaned and ready for winter. The grass needs to be cut and replacing some poles in the deer fence is the next major project on the agenda. There's too much to do and not enough hours in the day. 

But then, we're not surprised, are we? After all, a man's work is never done.

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...

Red asparagus berries over the strawberry plants