How can it be October 31st! How did the days pass so quickly? I have been trying to post an update for the entire month of October, and have just been unable to sit down long enough to finish the post. We were blessed with an incredible extended growing season here, and between the garden, a camping/hunting trip, and a quick trip to Canada to see my Gram who is ill... October has just gotten away from me! I have so much to share with you, so I will try to make it up to you in November. But for now... I have to share a few quick photos of my garden, and a treat for you at the end of the post... a video tour of my garden in all its glory before frost claimed it for the season.
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| Oh my heart! Now when I see the lush beauty here, it is a beautiful reminder of the glorious beauty I got to enjoy all season... gone now... but still, it was an incredible season of bounty in the garden this year! |
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In late October, just before our freeze... the fog is rising up from the cool air.
I knew the days of beauty were numbered here... |
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| Saving tomato seeds! Have you ever saved your tomato seeds? These are heirloom tomatoes and so very easy to collect seeds from. Just take the pulp from your best tomato of each variety, and then place it in a clean glass jar, add some water, and cover. Let sit for 4-5 days, or until the pulp has fermented away from the seeds. Add a bit of fresh cool water, and the seeds will drift to the bottom of the jar, where you can capture them and place them on a paper towel to finish drying out. |
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| I have dehydrated a lot of my zucchini and yellow squash this year - they are yummy to nibble on as a snack or add to soups and stews as desired. |
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| Canning up those tomatoes! |
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Still enjoying strawberries from the garden! This has set a record, I do believe! Here it is almost November, and my overbearing strawberry variety is still bearing!
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| I kept my hummingbird feeders out, and had a late visitor! This was taken in mid October! |
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| The sunflowers were outstanding this year... I will leave them standing through the winter for the birds to enjoy. I have also collected seeds for next year. |
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| Glorious sunshine! |
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| A foggy October morning! |
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| Marigolds are the Autumn stars of my garden... how I love these glorious blooming beauties. They serve a dual purpose - both pests and bees love them, and they add such beauty too. I start all my marigolds from seeds I collect each year. |
Below, you can click the link to take you to a video I made in early fall as I walked through my garden, and I share many of my favorite gardening and seed-collecting tips. I hope you will enjoy it!
I will be back hopefully within a few days to share with you pictures from our camping/hunting trip, and also my trip back home to Canada to see my Gram. So much to share - literally! I took 1500+ pictures while I was home in Canada... so it is taking me a while to work through all those pictures!
Happy Fall blessings to all of you, my dear faithful readers, with love and hugs to all of you!
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Hope your grandmother feels better soon, Marilyn.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great thing to do with the zucchini! I can tomatoes too. They are so much better than out of a tin.
Happy November!
Thank you for your kind visit, Marie. It is wonderful to can up your own garden veggies! So so much better than out of a can, for sure! I visited the Island in October, it was a "flying" trip. Wished I had more time! I will be sharing photos of that visit hopefully soon :)
DeleteWow, you have a beautiful property. I enjoyed your nice photos.
ReplyDeleteThank you Debby! Sure appreciate your kind visit and comment!
DeleteHow good that you were able to go visit your grandmother. I am sure it was a blessing for you both. Your garden was lush and beautiful this year. Another blessing. You must have done a lot of putting food up...both canning and freezing. Take care and don't stress over those 1500 photos. That's wild!
ReplyDeleteIt was such a blessing to visit my Gram. I have been very busy with garden business, it has been such a blessing, we have plenty of food to eat! I finally got through the 1500+ photos, and wrangled some sense into them, hopefully! Blessings to you Vee!
DeleteSorry to hear your Grandmother was ill. So good that you were able to visit her. Your garden is beautiful and I enjoyed the tour and gardening tips. Hope you find a chance to relax before the busy holiday season. Take care xo K
ReplyDeleteKaren, it was so wonderful to visit her, I just posted about that trip. My garden was amazing this year, I am still canning produce from it (tomatoes that continue to ripen). So thankful! Thanksgiving blessings to you!
DeleteHappy November! I always enjoy your photos. Just beautiful! Hope your trip to see your Grandma goes well.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your visit Mari, I had a wonderful visit with my Gram, so thankful we were able to go!
DeleteI absolutely hear you about October completely gone, Marilyn! It looks like you've redeemed it well and have the snapshots to prove it. So glad you could spend precious time with your Gram, too.
ReplyDeleteIt was a wonderful visit with my Gram, Linda! I am so thankful I was able to go! October went by so fast, and November is not far behind it! Thank you for your visit, trust you are having a wonderful November! Thanksgiving blessings to you!
DeleteStrawberries? Oh how amazing! Your garden is lovely.
ReplyDeleteDeanna Rabe
We had strawberries into November this year, incredible! So thankful... the garden is now at rest. Thanksgiving blessings to you!
DeleteWhat a bumper year you had, Marilyn! Such a blessing from God.
ReplyDeleteI do hope your grandmother is doing better, too. I know she is so precious to you.
I did click on the link to the video, but it said I had a bad connection. Maybe, you could try posting it again in a future blog.
Blessings, and Happy November!
Truly my garden was full of blessings this year Martha, I am so very thankful! My Gram is doing ok, but she is weary in body. We are so thankful we took the time to go visit her. I changed the link on the video, and it should work now. Many blessings to you!
DeleteThat is nice that you could go and see your Gran. Beautiful photos of your October.
ReplyDeleteOctober went by so fast, and November is moving along too... so thankful we took the time to visit Gram. Thanksgiving blessings to you Ellen!
DeleteOh Marilyn such a gorgeous October you had! We did too here. I ate my last strawberry around mid October... amazing to have those everbearing strawberries! I love your foggy and misty day pictures and the pops of marigolds in your garden. My marigolds outlast anything, and the deer don't eat them! Yes.. we even have dear here in town! they had a lovely breakfast a few weeks ago of all my petunias! I'm sorry to hear your Grandmother is ill... I hope she will recover just fine and well. I tried to click on your link for the tour but it said bad request, or something like that, I wouldn't go to the link. I looked on YouTube for it, but wasn't there! Oh the fun of technology........ The month did go so fast. I had 3 big things going on in October, so it just zoomed by.. and tired me out too! xxoooxoox Marilyn
ReplyDeleteIt was truly a magnificent October, one of the best we've had in years, but then winter showed up in November, ha! I had strawberries into November, and then winter arrived, and that was the end of that, lol! I fixed the link on the video for my garden tour, I hope you can see it now. I loved your October moments too, it was such a beautiful month! Now, here we are in November, and it is moving right along too! Thanksgiving blessings to you!
DeleteYour pictures are beautiful. You sure had a bumper crop this year. Hope your grandma is better. God Bless.
ReplyDeleteJoan,Marion and Marilyn
Thank you for your visit Joan, Marion and Marilyn, I always appreciate your kind comments! We had a wonderful visit to see Gram, so thankful we went. November Thanksgiving blessings to all of you!
Deletepretty photos!
ReplyDeleteI hope your grandmother feels better soon
I clicked on the link to your garden walk but up popped a box saying "Bad Request" and no post!! hm......
The link to the video is fixed now Faith, I am so sorry for that! We had a wonderful trip to see Gram, so thankful we went. Many Thanksgiving blessings to you!
DeleteHow I enjoy seeing the photos of your huge garden. And your canned veggies are such a pleasure to see. The color of every vegetable and fruit. I never thought of drying yellow and green squash. Great idea. I used to dry all our apples I could that did not end up in jars. Seems like a life time ago, though.
ReplyDeleteLynn and Precious
Thank you for your visit Lynn & Precious! It was such a wonderful year for gardening, I am so grateful - and I am STILL canning tomatoes as they ripen! Incredible! Yes, the yellow and zucchini squash are wonderful dehydrated, they are great in soups, and can even be eaten as snacks too. Dehydrating gives you so many options! I hope you are having a wonderful November, happy Thanksgiving blessings to you!
DeleteThank you as always for sharing the photos of the beautiful northwest. Oh, how my heart misses the mountains and meadows.
ReplyDeleteI will pray for your Grandma and I hope she's feeling better all of the time.
The fruits of your gardening labor will feed you all winter. It all looks so delcious.
Take care dear Marilyn.
Blessings and hugs,
Betsy
I know you miss the northwest so much, I understand. There is just something so magnificent about this year that lives in your heart. My Gram is doing ok, so thankful we were able to go see her. I am still canning up tomatoes in November, incredible! Many blessings to you sweet Betsy! I always appreciate your kind visit and comments!
DeleteI think this year has flown by ...
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed seeing all of your photographs.
So pleased you could spend time with your Gram.
My good wishes.
All the best Jan
This year has really flown by Jan, it is hard to believe we are in the middle of November now. It seems that summer just arrived! I always appreciate your kind visits, and beautiful comments. Many Thanksgiving blessings to you!
DeleteI know what you mean. I can't believe October has come and gone! We put up our Christmas tree today. It has been so much fun and a much-needed bright spot in our lives. I still have fall decor on the outside of our home, but inside, it's all about Christmas! This is all my favorite time of the year, and I am SO deeply grateful to God to still be alive to see and experience it all again with my dear family. God is so good. Sending much love and hugs your way today, sweet friend.
ReplyDeleteSweet Cheryl, your comments are always a blessing to me. I am so thankful for the many blessings of the Lord, and for the generous harvest of the garden we enjoyed this year. I haven't started decorating yet for Christmas, as we will be gone over Thanksgiving. I'll do it when I get back. I am still canning tomatoes that are ripening out of my garden, and also pumpkin... God's blessings are so rich! Many blessings to you dear friend!
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