Frosty Anticipation

Some days I feel like I run around like a crazy person from the time the kids wake me up, to the time I collapse in bed and I still have about a hundred things that need my attention.  Today was one of those days.  From Alistair's wake up call at 4:30 am to an evening spent cleaning and preparing today's harvest for preservation, something or someone has demanded my attention for every single second of the day.

Tonight will be our first frost of the season.  That means that the vegetable garden demanded my attention.  There was no two ways about it, the frost sensitive vegetables had to come out and the plants that are going to overwinter outside had to be mulched.

Before I could get to any of that; however, the kids had to be fed, cleaned and clothed, bread had to be baked, the goats had to be milked, and all of the animals had to be fed, watered and let out for the day.  This is normally all taken care of during Alistair's morning nap; typically his only nap of the day.  Today he slept for a grand total of 20 minutes.  That's it.  It takes longer than that to milk one goat, let alone deal with all of the other animals.  Not to mention that it was a PD Day so I was doing all the chores with Liam and Seamus in tow.

After breaking from chores to get Alistair bundled up and cooing happily in the exersaucer that I dragged out into the backyard, we finally got down to work in the garden.  All the tomato plants, cages and stakes came out and the green tomatoes got piled high in the multipurpose sled.  We harvested the remaining zucchinis, one cucumber, and three squash and fed the plants to the goats.  All the leaves off of the mints and various herbs (sage, pineapple sage, oregano, lavender and savory) were trimmed and the remainder of the plants mulched with straw.  The chard and any remaining cauliflower or broccoli plants got pulled out and fed to the goats.  All the daikon radish, chinese cabbage, turnips, carrots and scallions were harvested from the box gardens.  The sunflowers were cut and brought inside.  The rosemary plants were dug up and relocated indoors.  Liam insisted on bringing his cucamelons inside and Seamus his lemon basil plants.  Neither of these will survive indoors but I did not have the heart to burst their bubble.

So, what is left, you ask?  Kale, beets, the carrots and turnips in the main garden, parsley, brussels sprouts, radishes, spinach and some lettuce.  These vegetables are somewhat cold resistant and should last a few more weeks, though their growth will slow considerably.

Oh, you meant what is left for me to do today?  I will not even begin to tackle the tomatoes tonight but I have no choice but to clean the rest of the vegetables and get them either into the dehydrator or the fridge.

At least all the kids are now in bed and I can work in relative peace and quiet.

Finally, all done.  Yawn...