A first freeze

We finally had our first "real" freeze of fall last weekend. 

I was distracted by watercolor classes, an art walk through the River Arts District, and planning various upcoming activities, travel, etc. so hadn't done too much aside from running out and harvesting the last tender bok choi leaves, from plants which turned out not to be so tender after all.

Thankfully, I'd already harvested all the peppers, so just needed to clean up the droopy carcasses this week.  The greens, herbs, sugar snap peas, parsley, etc. all look just fine, of course.

Harvesting peppers and tomatillos, monitoring greens

I'll be away for a while in the first half of October, prime time for the final harvest of peppers, as well as the full-on onslaught of mustards, lettuces, and arugula.

I planted beets, carrots, leeks, and shallots, too, and will be putting in garlic before leaving. It's an awkward time to be gone in the vegetable garden, and a wonderful time to be here in the mountains, but...

I'll be harvesting all of the peppers (poblano 'Magnifico' and the pizza peppers), tomatillos, and whatever beans (hrrmph) I still have, before I go.

Thankfully, I still have a small bit of room in the miniature chest freezer for roasted peppers and salsa verde.  It's almost filled up, with tomatoes, summer fruits, squash, and green beans, which is fine -- my mid-size chest freezer that was left down in the Piedmont never filled up.

We'll eat as much of the fresh greens as we can before I leave -- the first frost may arrive before I come back, or not!  We'll see.