Winter Has Come Early

It took me all day but I was able to get done the bulk of my fall garden cleanup today. I harvested as much as I could and covered most of my remaining tender greens with row cover. Our fridge is packed with veggies right now, which is a good thing since it'll be slim pickings from the garden for at least the next five months.

I was surprised by how cold it felt outside today. By 3 PM it began to drizzle and my hands were numb. Gardening under these conditions is neither fun nor easy.


The rain slowly turned to snow and and by 5 PM, it began to accumulate.


I took this picture earlier tonight. Right now, we have about 6 inches of snow on the ground. Interestingly the worst of the storm hasn't even reached us yet. When it's over, we're expected to get between 10 inches to a foot.

I don't think we've ever had anywhere close to this amount of snow in October before. It's hard to imagine the local kids having to trick or treat in their snow boots. If winter is arriving early this year, does this mean that spring will as well? For all of our sake, let's hope so.

Winter Storm Warning...in October???

Strange things happen when you're away. Last night I returned home after spending the past couple of days in San Francisco for work. It was the first time in 11 years since I'd been there and from what I could tell, the city hasn't changed much. It's still one of my favorite cities in the United States and the weather was perfect.

Interestingly, I just found out that we're expected to get between 6 - 10 inches of snow within the next 36 hours starting sometime later today. A snow storm in October??? I can't remember the last time this happened. So much for Indian Summer. Admittedly, I find myself in somewhat of a bind right now. I've yet to do the bulk of my fall garden clean up and I'm not sure if I'll be able to cover all of my growing beds in time. Needless to say, today will be a busy day.

I hope the rest of my fellow New England gardeners are better prepared than I am.

Tropical Storm Sunday

It's been raining for most of the morning, but boy, the winds are really starting to pick up now. I don't remember the last time the Northeast was under the direct path of a hurricane or tropical storm. It will be interesting to see how the garden holds up. I have a feeling my giant purple sprouting broccoli will be horizontal by the end of today. We don't expect too much damage in our area but I'm hoping that we won't lose electricity.


Whenever we're confronted with a major weather event, whether it be a winter blizzard or a summer thunderstorm, I always get the tremendous urge to make soup. This time around, I made two kinds - a tomato soup for Marc (using our homegrown heirloom tomatoes, celery, onions and carrots)...


...and a yummy sausage and lentil soup for me. I also made some garlic naan bread to go with our satisfying lunch (the recipe for which I'll post later this week).