Garden clean up...

I'm so missing my garden!!!! The weather has been so nice for the past few weeks. But prior to that we had some really cold winter weather! It's a beautiful autumn day here in Wyoming. The mountains are so pretty all capped in white!!!

I started garden clean up a bit yesterday. Will do clean up a little bit each day.

The darn cats have been doing their do-do in my boxes!!!! Any suggestions for that are welcome...

For those of you, my dear gardening friends... who have SFGs. What will you do with your boxes during the winter months? I'll have to dig out Mel's book to see what he says about the winter months.

We have gusty winds here sometimes... and my soil literally blows away. Well... I'm thinking on what to do with my precious boxes....

I'm also thinking about stocking up on Vermiculite during these winter months so that I don't have to buy it in the spring all at once... at $25/bag... it gets pretty pricey!

My little Canon PowerShot S400 quit working right... it wouldn't focus anymore... So I sent it back to Canon to be fixed. Can't wait to get it back so that I can post more photos for you!

Well off I go... got to get some stuff done!

one little... two little... Jars of Salsa!

I made my very first batch of Annie's Salsa! And... it is family approved!! Well, hubby did think that it could be hotter.. It tastes really good!

Got 9 half pints for the pantry!!

Tomorrow, I'll make some more!!

Canning tomato sauce

Today I finally got the extra sauce canned up from yesterday's Italian dinner of Manicotti & Meatballs!

So onto the shelf goes 3 more quarts and 2 half pints of Tomato Sauce!

We bought another one of those nice chrome metal shelf units from Costco to store all my canned goodies!

Now... on my list... deal with the rest of my tomatoes before they get all squishy... and get the boys bathroom mud work done!!! Sigh...

Tomatoes still left to process^

Tomato sauce & Jelly!

Another batch of tomato sauce!

Hi Gardening friends!

Sorry that I haven't been around for a bit!

We moved into our new home, but didn't have a bathroom done yet... so I worked like crazy to get a bathroom done... then I had a severe allergy to something... probably stress related... and of course the medication has just about knocked me out!

I'm way way better now! Oh my gosh did I look like a monster for a while... one big hivey swollen monster!

Remember those buckets of tomatoes that I harvested before the last severe frost?

Well, they've been waiting patiently for me to process them!

So today, I'm making a big batch of sauce. It's simmering right now. I'll have to take it off the burner soon. Tomorrow I'm going to make manicotti and meatballs for dinner! I may even be inspired to make some homemade bread to go with it... well... we'll see!

The extra sauce will be canned tomorrow... it needs to simmer a bit longer... but it's getting late... and 5:50 am comes really fast!!!

Can you believe that I still have 2 buckets of ripe tomatoes left? Hoping to make those into salsa! Note to myself... PICK UP CILANTRO!

It snowed today... and it was freezing out there! We had a very short fall here and an early freeze... the beet farmers are having a terrible time with the cold weather...

So now... I'm dreaming of next year's garden... but... I still have to clear out my beds... sigh... it's been a busy.. .busy... busy couple weeks!

Hey, thanks for stopping by!!!!

The Last Garden tour for the 2009 growing season...

Welcome to Shaw Ann from Shawn Ann's Garden! Thanks for following my blog!

The 2009 gardening season is growing to a close... I have truly enjoyed my garden this year... my very first SFG!

I still have lots of tomatoes to process!

Pulled the last of my delicious carrots!

And the rest of my beets...

My fall peas are still producing. They taste so much better than my spring crop!

I also have a few cabbage heads to harvest...

Well, here's my last garden tour video for the 2009 growing season!

SNOW!

Snow...

They said it was coming... I never believe it until I see it! Being in the Bighorn Basin, we miss a lot of weather. We're protected by the mountains all around us.

We've had snow in the mountains for a while now and now we have our first snow on the ground. Not a lot... just enough to let you know that winter's fast coming!

Hard to believe that just 2 weeks ago it was warm and toasty with temps in the low 80s!

It's so pretty to look outside! There's snow stuck in all the trees and a dusting on the ground enough to make it look magical out there.

Picked buckets of tomatoes yesterday

Cold has set in. It's a bright sunny, breezy day here with temps in the 40s.

In the Big Horn Basin of northern Wyoming, we are surrounded by snow capped mountain ranges all around. Beautiful...

But... now... I am at the end of my garden time...

All the tomatoes have been picked. I have buckets of them ready to process!

The peas are enjoying the cold, as well as the lettuce, cabbage, swiss chard... and the radishes seem OK. I have some carrots still in the bed... but that's it now!

Sigh...

I'm trying to decide if I want to clear out the tomato plants or leave them to help protect the soil from the winter winds...

On my wish list... a green house!