First Frost

We woke up yesterday morning to signs of a light frost - that layer of white, topping the still very lush blades of grass.  Thankfully, our (sometimes) trusty weathermen gave us fair warning, so we were able to prepare by harvesting all the still-green tomatoes and bringing in a few last bouquets.

According to Victory Seeds, the average first frost date for this area is September 18th, so we can't complain about the seventeen bonus gardening days we got this year.  Still, it is always a little sad to put the garden to bed.  I get so accustomed to the luxury of being able to wander out and pick something to go with dinner, to top my sandwich at lunch, or to feed the boys for a snack.  But as the days get shorter (and colder!) we have other things to occupy ourselves, and I can't deny that it's a little bit handy to have my husband back.

Since Ben never did start that gardening blog I had hoped he would, I guess the 2011 Stockwell garden recap falls in my lap.  Spreadsheeting ain't my style, so I'll give you the written-word version.  All in all, the garden was a success this year.  We tried many new tasty treasures...

Edamame

Potatoes

Peas (both snap and garden variety)

Arugula

and some pretty ones too.

Nasturtiums.
We also planted giant marigolds among the veggies this year - such lovely bursts of color among all that green!

2011 was also the debut year of our raised beds, which I think make the garden look infinitely more contained and attractive, don't you?

We had a few disappointments - the cucumbers, in all honesty, were tasteless; the tomato horn worms nipped our cherry tomatoes in the bud, seriously dampening our yield; and the beets were never big enough (but boy did they make up for their size in taste - yum!).  But there were no grand disasters, and once again, I did not buy one vegetable (with the exception of onions and carrots - I keep telling Ben we need to grow those next) all summer long.  That's a bountiful year in my book!