Eggs at last

 While the rain drought deepens (no rain for a month now), the egg drought seems to be over! Our two Ameraucanas, Silvia and Goldie, have resumed laying blue eggs, and we are getting two to four eggs a day again. Lucky still seems to show no interest in transitioning from pullet to hen.

Three eggs, including a blue one

We’ve had frosts the last two nights. The cold temperatures are supposed to make Brussels sprouts sweeter. They have been slow to develop this year, perhaps because they are not fond of head. Some of them are finally taking off, and I plan to harvest some this afternoon.

Long-awaited Brussels sprouts

Others persist in being slackers. I have no hope for them, as the lateral buds are showing no signs of developing. I planted two varieties, but performance did not sort out neatly as one variety being consistently better than the other. I am perplexed. I might be planning them too close together.

Underachiever

I started cleaning out the north garden. The tomatoes and tomato cages are out. I’ve pulled up most of the drip lines and some of the landscape cloth. It’s dusty work with the ground so dry, but it’s better than doing it in mud. I meant to have it all cleaned out by now, but I was distracted by applesauce and apple butter. So many apples.

Partially cleaned garden

I won’t have to trim the strawberry leaves before I cover the beds with straw this winter. The deer have done an excellent job of that.

Deer-trimmed strawberry bed

Two of my tomato plants in the high tunnel are living in their heads. They refuse to acknowledge the coming of autumn. I got sick of picking/processing tomatoes weeks ago, but Terry refused to give up. He says he is still picking red tomatoes, which he is finding homes for. He must be doing a good job, as I haven’t seen any that are taking on any color at all. Conventional wisdom suggests that tomatoes need a longer day to ripen.

Tomatoes in the high tunnel that won't quit

Last year we had a giant evening primrose that got as tall as the tractor shed. I expected lots of primrose in that area this summer, given the millions of tiny seeds that primrose dropped everywhere. My flower book says they bloom from June through September, but they obviously did not read the book. They did finally appear at the end of September. Like the tomatoes, they are living in their heads. It does not seem that the seed pods will ripen before the killing frost. Hard to say, though, because it’s supposed to warm up again in a couple of days.

Late blooming evening primrose

We don’t have much fall color here. The trees along the creek are mostly box elder, which merely turn brown and shrivel up. The red maples are still green. We do have one sassafras tree, which I think is from a seed collected from the big sassafras that grew in the yard of my childhood home. It’s a good story, anyway. This tree is brilliantly red (mostly).

Sassafras tree

Sassafras has three kinds of leaves. I learned them as “mittens.” The mittens can have one thumb, two thumbs or no thumbs. Our tree has mostly no thumbs or two thumbs. It was hard to tell, though, because there has been a lot of nibbling.

Zero- and two-thumbed mitten leaves

I really am going to finish cleaning up the garden this weekend. Really! It will be no fun at all if the ground freezes. Also, I’ve got to get the garlic planted. Time goes so fast.