I saw the pumpkin thieves this morning. When I looked out the upstairs bathroom window, the shop light with its motion sensor was on.
All dogs were in the house, so something else had triggered the light.
When Bridie and I went outside a few minutes later, the last of four deer was trotting away from the pumpkin patch on the west side of the barn.
The nice thing about these thieves is that they don't seem to care for ripe pumpkins---only the green ones.
A few baby pumpkins are still popping off from the vines, even after I thought I had removed all of them.
At this point, I don't care if the deer eat the green pumpkins. I've got pumpkins aplenty of all sizes and levels of ripeness.
It's been a good pumpkin year, and it's been a great year for plums, cukes and 'maters.
A few of the hundreds of plums are still hanging from the red plum tree. Most that I could not reach on the purple plum tree have fallen to the ground and have been flattened by the lawnmower.
The food bank netted lots of Lovestead plums, and I had all I needed for jellies.
My friend Tuyen took some of the red plums and is making wine.
We are eating the last of this year's garden cukes, and we're somewhat sad. It's been a delicious run.
I'm guessing there be one more meal of sliced cucumbers swimming in ranch dressing.
Then, we'll have to rely on the canned dill pickles to remind us of what a great gardening year it has been for some items.
Still picking tomatoes after two months' worth of tasty enjoyment and a freezer filled with gallon bags of Sun Gold minis.
So, unless it freezes, the crop that some readers thought were brownies last February keeps producing.
Remember those?
BTW: those 'maters are just as good as brownies.
Overall, I'd give my gardening success about a B-minus.
Varmints ate half the potatoes, but we still have enough to keep us going for a few months.
I had lettuce aplenty early in the year but haven't been able to grow any since the heat came on, and it came on pretty early in the summer.
Same is true with chard and I think I can count about three carrots out in my new stand-up planters.
A cabbage out by the raspberries is doing its darndest to grow into a big cabbage. If the bugs would just leave it alone, that would help.
The dill and rosemary both have done okay, and one squash is finally growing from its vine.
No need for zucchinis this year cuz the tomatoes substituted as the produce you tried to give to everyone.
Bags of cherry tomatoes sweetened the palates of several friends; one even asked me for more, which pleased me greatly.
As mentioned before, this year's green bean crop here at the Lovestead was dismal at best. I managed to put about seven bags of beans in the freezer when I usually have at least 30.
Not wanting to give up, I ended up buying the only bush-bean seed packets available at North 40.
They're yellow beans, and, by golly, many little guys are starting to dangle from the stems.
In a couple of days, I'll pick my first batch, and it's looking like there will be plenty.
No apples for apple jelly this year. The horses don't care if they're wormy, so they're getting treats almost every night.
Same is true with the corn, except the squirrels have been helping the horses by hauling off half-empty corn ears from the garden.
Our corn wasn't wormy, but it only covered a couple of meals at our house, and that's for just two sets of teeth.
If I were to look at my garden from a bottom-line perspective, I'd probably give it a D-minus cuz I sure have spent a lot of money trying to save money by growing food.
Actually, one has to forget the money invested and just keep thinking of how heavenly all that fresh, homegrown food tastes, even if you only get a few bites of green beans.
When I think of how spoiled our tastebuds have been over the past several weeks, all that comes to mind is the old Mastercard commercial: priceless.
And, when February comes and I start planting those tomato seeds and nurturing them and a few annual flower starts next to the windows, a whole new adventure in gardening will begin.
Heck, maybe next year beans will flourish and 'maters will take a break.
Always hopes of a better garden report next year.
Happy Sunday.
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