Pumpkins and Peppers

I never made it to the apples yesterday because I was distracted by gardening tasks. I pulled up all the cucumber vines and stacked them to compost. That section of the garden is in a little swale, and I think that cold air tends to settle in that spot. Some of the squash there looks like it’s been hit by a frost already, but we are still in the 40s and 50s overnight. I found half a dozen overripe cantaloupe hiding underneath some of the pumpkin vines. Those went to the pigs.

I have at least four of these. What are they? Who knows.

I think this plant came from the plant sale. These things are huge. (Regular pumpkin in the background for scale.) The tag is still there at the base of the plant, but, unfortunately, I can’t get to it.

I loaded up another wagon full of tomatoes—some ripe, some to finish ripening inside—and cleaned off the tomatillo plants again. I have enough tomatoes in the freezer for the amount of sauce I planned to make. I continue to tell friends and neighbors they are welcome to what is left but no one has taken me up on my offer. With no frost in sight, those plants are going to continue producing.

I cut two of the largest cabbages and left the rest to get a bit bigger. The corn stalks had another dozen ears which I brought in to blanch and freeze. A huge volunteer tomato plant came up next to the corn—that’s where the tomatoes were planted last summer—with some kind of long paste tomato on it. I need to check with Susan, because I think that one came from her. I might save those seeds. Anything that persists in my garden for more than one season without assistance is worth keeping.

Only one of my pepper plants—from Sarah—produced actual peppers:

I have a hard time growing peppers and onions. The Carolina Amethyst pepper I grew last year did really well, but all the seed was sold out this year.

I pulled up the Jacob’s Cattle Bean plants and laid the pods out in the greenhouse to finish drying. They were already mostly dry on the plants. There are still two rows of beans out there that have just started to dry out. This is a tricky dance, because I would prefer that the pods dry on the plants, but if we get too much rain, they will start to get moldy. It looks like we will be in the 70s and dry toward the end of the week, so I am leaving them until next weekend.

This has been a good gardening season. I am satisfied.

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We took the kids out for dinner last night. Kalispell has a newish restaurant called Mercantile Steak. The husband and I went there for our anniversary in May and again a few weeks ago. The menu is not extensive—and gluten-free options are few and far between—but the food is always excellent.

My friend Susan’s daughter and SIL are building a house. The husband poured the foundation at the end of June, and SIL and his dad have been working on the framing since then. They are building a straw bale house, so they invited friends and family to come this weekend to help them stack bales. We’re going to go up today to help and to visit. It’s a modern version of an Amish barn raising.

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My class proposals for Sew Expo 2024 have been submitted. I submitted classes on knitting, not sewing, because I don’t feel like I am at the level where I can teach sewing there yet. That event attracts a lot of sewing teachers with way more knowledge and experience than I have.

Now we wait. I’m also visiting with the owners of the store in Missoula about scheduling classes there. They said they have quite a few people asking for garment classes. The husband asked me last night when he can retire. LOL. As if he would. He loves making money.

I confess to being a bit befuddled by how this all seems to be coming together. Between the stores here, in Missoula, and in Spokane, I likely can teach as much as I want to. Who knew? All because I was replaced by a computer. I would have been content to continue working as a medical transcriptionist. Life is funny.