October Harvest

Well, my desert vacation is over. I haven't had time to do much baking, but I did get the chance to put my garden to bed. It was so nice, and so beautiful out working in the sun (it's hard to tell whether its Fall or not yet in Utah), I had to pull out my camera.

So Oregon is beautiful. And Utah is beautiful. But they are beautiful in different ways. Oregon's beauty is mostly based on water, I think, and the green and shady things that grow from it. A lot of people actually prefer this kind of natural beauty.

But in desert places (or high arid steppes, as the Salt Lake climate actually is), the energy comes from the sun, and the beauty is not in green things but in bright, fiery things that reflect that light back.

So without further ado, here are some photos of the final harvest of the year - my last Utah garden (at least for now).


I plant these every year, and I forget what they're called every year. Something with a G...galzanas? Galeanas? Gazongas?? Who knows. But they open up with the light every day into bright, sunny star shapes, and I just love them.


The last of the zinnias. They are my favorite flower because of the fiery colors they come in, and the loads of blossoms they put out. These actually do grow in Oregon, but they still look out of place to me if they aren't in bright, bright sun.






Here are some herbs, melissa, chamomile, and sage. They are currently drying in twine-tied bundles over my windowsill.


Saving them for winter teas.


Here are some marigold blossoms...I know they are edible, so I am drying and saving them too until I can figure out how to eat them. Also I just think they will look pretty dried in a mason jar for the winter.


Grapes and apples. I don't have much going in the way of fruit yet. Maybe next year.




Mmmm nothing like these to keep the frost off.








Not a bad harvest for a little kitchen garden. It's almost enough to make you want to cook a huge feast and give thanks...

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