Distractions

I've been neglecting this blog lately. Too many distractions at this time of year and I'm not talking about politics. Our garden's done reasonably well so I've been kept busy canning and freezing produce and trying out new pickle, relish, and jam recipes. It's been an unusual Fall (which matches the unusual Spring, I guess) in that it's staying warm later than usual. No frost yet, and in past years we could count on a hard frost right around Labor Day. The good news aspect of that is it means we've actually been able to enjoy a few vine-ripened tomatoes this year -- usually we end up picking them all green and letting them ripen in the house. The bad news perspective is that I'm starting to get really nervous. We're being lulled into a false sense that summer's going to last forever, and then winter is going to arrive with not much autumn weather in between. The potted plant on the front porch should not still be lush and green -- it's a potato plant. It's September. It's supposed to know it's time to wither and die. (That plant is the answer to the question "What do you do when you're planting the garden, get to the end of the last row of potatoes, and have one seed potato left over?") One of these days we'll go to bed thinking it's still summer and wake up to six inches of snow on the ground.