You've been busy, Kim. I've been busy too, but not with fun stuff. I worked at the part-time job. One of those days that you literally do not sit down once for 7 hours or more. It's good to be home.

I might have brought St. John's Wort to SF.

We got rain but I'm not sure how much.

Didn't look at the garden but saw that we could have a light frost Thursday morning. Which means I need to get the succulents indoors. They may go into the shop until I have time to deal with them. Everything else can just go. I won't have time to harvest anything tomorrow because tomorrow night is our community event.

I'm okay with it going, tho. It's been a blessing, but I'm tired.

I was offered to work on Saturday but just can't. I need at least one day at home/off work. I want to do the deep clean of our bedroom that day. Take our blankets to the extra large washers at the laundromat. Clean the windows, blinds, ceiling fan. Move the furniture out. Get it nice for the winter.

The thought of working on Saturday makes me feel like crying.

How's everyone doing? Are y'all as busy as Kim and me?

Jennifer and Kim, yes I’ve been busy too. Sometimes I just wish for a few hours of not busy. Life seems to be going so fast and I can’t keep up. I haven’t moved anything inside yet, glad you mentioned the succulents or I would have forgotten them. My greenhouse has not been cleaned or readied for winter but will just have to drag it all in and shut the doors until I have time to deal with it. We have a SS party Thursday night with about 45-55 people coming and I have to get ready for that. A lot of that is last minute stuff. I need everything done according to my standards and lists lists lists. My daughter says I need to learn to lighten up and enjoy instead of stressing out but so far I haven’t learned how. We have several tiny baby calves and they demand attention, making sure they keep up with the herd and don’t get separated. Also have to watch for cows ready to calve and bring them in for a few days. We spent 5 hours Saturday in ER - my husband couldn’t get his breath. Lots of tests and no answers- frustrating. Then prescribed an inhaler that would have costs us $274 - no we didn’t get it. He has a couple of different ones at home that he will use instead. I’m so disappointed in our medical care, especially for elders. Jennifer I understand being tired of the garden. It’s been a good year and productive, but I need a break with nothing to take care of on a daily basis.

You asked me about chickens. I only have 6 hens and a guinea right now, I try to keep 8-10. That’s plenty for us and enough to share with kids or a couple of older friends. I like a mixture of breeds and I know it’s silly but I like the brown eggs or colored ones. I have a brown leghorn that lays white eggs and she’s my best hen. I have a Speckled Sussex that is a good layer - she’s a big hen but very docile. I have black Sex Links and Barred Rocks that are good layers. I have a Buff Orpington that is gorgeous and gentle but she’s wants to set all the time and is not productive. I usually have a Rhode Island or Production Red. They are good layers. My daughter is giving me a Cuckoo Maran that lays copper colored eggs and a Whiting True Blue that lays blue eggs and a White Leghorn from the new chicks she got for Walnut Woods. They won’t start laying until next Spring.

My sweet potatoes look like they are drying well so will probably make a sweet potato pie next week. Larry, haven’t seen a post from you in a few days. Hope you and Madge are okay.

I have not been doing anything in the garden. I don't like rainy, cool weather. It is 49 here now, with the lows in the 30's this weekend, which can put me in frost range, but that is normal, our average first frost fall frost date is at the end of Oct.

I still have sweet potatoes to dig, if they have not rotted. I doubt that my potatoes have been growing anyway because of the cool weather. I don't need the potatoes, but I am concerned that leaving them may encourage rodents, but I will go out and try to dig a few, when, and if the weather permits.

Jennifer, I know the feeling working when you had planned on being off is not ideal. I signed up for a Saturday night market so that puts me seven hours worth of markets on Saturday. Morning and evening. The hard part will be getting up for church on Sunday, but one of my favorite speakers will be there so I will be motivated. I made a large batch of fig honey jam today and a small batch of peach jam. That cleared out two bags out of the freezer and I’m hoping to do grape jam tomorrow and get another bag out. I was motivated in the summer to get all this jam made up, but it was too hot and the air conditioner could not keep up in this tiny house so I decided to wait till it cooled off and it definitely has cooled off. The wind was terrible today but now it’s dying down so it’s actually pleasant outside. Larry, I hope you get all your taters dug.

We might have had a light frost this morning. My car had some frosty stuff on the windshield. It was still dark when I left for work so not sure what the garden looks like. Hopefully will be home by 5 tonight to check it out. Tom turned on the heat for an hour when he woke up.

I wish that I had more garden stuff to talk about. If there would have been time, I would have done a last harvest of veg last night. Especially the bell peppers. There were some nice sized ones in the kitchen garden. Maybe they didn't get frozen. If not, I'll grab those tonight. Those and some jalapenos. Maybe a few more peppers too like the cayenne. We'll see what we've got when I get home.

It was late when I got home last night and I did put the succulents into the shop and 3 in the utility room. I was was too tired to do more than that with them.

My shelf for the new, smaller grow lights came in. I might go ahead and buy the lights too. And put the succulents under them.

Did anyone get a frost/freeze last night?

I did not get a frost yet, but my hibiscus is looking a little sad from being cold and wind burned. I seriously think I’m gonna go out and harvest them all tonight. I just got done canning two batches of jam and I am ready for a break. Looks like I have some carrots coming up. I wrote a good article of information about Roselle Hibiscus.

🔴 Hibiscus sabdariffa (Roselle) — Petals and Seeds of Protection

It shields cells from oxidation.
It calms inflammation.
It protects the liver, nourishes the heart, and supports the skin.

And it all comes from two overlooked parts of one extraordinary plant—
the petals and seeds of Hibiscus sabdariffa, known as Roselle.

🌿 What are these compounds?

Anthocyanins (cyanidin-3-glucoside, delphinidin-3-glucoside):
Pigments responsible for Roselle’s red hue; powerful antioxidants that neutralize free radicals, protect DNA, and prevent vascular damage.

Flavonoids (quercetin, kaempferol):
Anti-inflammatory and vasoprotective agents that modulate enzymes linked to inflammation and oxidative stress.

Phenolic acids (protocatechuic acid):
Strong antioxidant and hepatoprotective compound shown to support detoxification and reduce liver lipid peroxidation.

γ-Tocopherol (Vitamin E from seeds):
A potent antioxidant form of vitamin E that protects cell membranes and skin lipids from oxidative damage.

Linoleic & Oleic acids:
Essential fatty acids that support heart health, maintain healthy cholesterol levels, and strengthen the skin barrier.

Bioactive peptides (from seed protein):
ACE-inhibiting molecules that may naturally regulate blood pressure and improve endothelial function.

❤️ Cardiovascular and Hepatoprotective Benefits

Petal anthocyanins and seed oils combine to defend vital organs.

Anthocyanins improve endothelial function and reduce LDL oxidation.

Seed γ-tocopherol protects hepatic and cardiac tissue from oxidative stress.

Polyphenols modulate lipid metabolism, supporting balanced cholesterol and triglycerides.

In traditional medicine, Roselle was used to “cool the blood”—modern studies confirm its capacity to protect the liver and heart through antioxidant and anti-inflammatory mechanisms.

🩸 Anti-Inflammatory and Antioxidant Defense

Studies show that as extraction time increases, antioxidant activity from Roselle petals rises in parallel.
However, heating above 80 °C destroys anthocyanins—proving that gentle drying or raw preparations retain the most potency.

Petal extracts scavenge reactive oxygen species, inhibit inflammatory enzymes like COX and LOX, and suppress bacterial growth through synergistic organic acids and polyphenols.

🌱 Digestive and Metabolic Balance

Roselle seed fiber binds bile acids, helping to lower serum cholesterol and enhance fat excretion.
When fermented in the colon, this fiber produces short-chain fatty acids that nourish intestinal cells and improve barrier integrity.
The seeds’ protein also provides metabolic stability and supports energy metabolism.

💧 Skin and Cellular Renewal

Seed oil rich in γ-tocopherol and essential fatty acids acts as a topical antioxidant lipid—preserving dermal fats, reducing inflammation, and maintaining the skin’s moisture barrier.
Petal anthocyanins add photoprotection and anti-aging benefits by stabilizing collagen and protecting against oxidative stress.

🌟 Why Roselle Petals and Seeds Are Unique

Most focus on Roselle’s calyx—but the petals and seeds hold a broader pharmacological spectrum:

Petals: Antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, hepatoprotective, antibacterial.

Seeds: Cardioprotective, lipid-balancing, ACE-inhibiting, and skin-restorative.

Together they form a complete phytochemical system—nutritional and therapeutic in equal measure.

✨ In short:

Hibiscus sabdariffa (Roselle) is more than a tea—it’s a dual-part medicine.
The petals deliver anthocyanins and flavonoids that protect, cleanse, and restore.
The seeds contribute vitamin E, peptides, and essential fats that strengthen the heart, skin, and liver.

Two tissues.
One plant.
A complete antioxidant network that cools inflammation, balances metabolism, and renews from within.

Jennifer, I often get a frost on the top, and windshield of our car before I have a killing frost, but for me it is getting time for a frost. It got down to 39 here last night, so frost may not be far away.

Madge and I went to Fort Smith for breakfast this morning, and when I got back I check my sweet potatoes and peppers. The sweet potatoes are not growing at all, they are in the shade almost all the time, plus it is too wet and cold for them. My peppers get more sun, but they are not doing much either. I think there are still a few people that I know that would like some produce, so I will harvest what I have and give it away, we don't want to fool with anymore produce.

I got a kick out of your remark about the heat. Madge is cold all the time. Often when we go some where I turn her heated seat on, and turn the AC on me, I tell her that I like to smell bacon frying while I ride in a car. I should not make fun of Madge, I can tell that as I get older my thermostat does not work well either.

Larry, my thermostat is super weird. I'm almost always either too hot or too cold. I like sunny and 60. Or overcast and 70. Inside, I'm warm if I'm up working. I'm cold if I sit down. I would have not turned on the heater this morning, tho. That was all Tom. His new car has seat warmers and those are nice! My car does not have that.

Kim, that's a great article. Good job. My roselle is left untouched. I haven't harvested a thing from it. Very sad too. It's full.

I did get outside to look at the gardens this evening. Honestly, it makes me overwhelmed right now. It will be a nightmare next year. The volunteers will be insane. I told Tom tonight that he will have to help me in the late winter/early spring to put fresh cardboard on all the pathways and woodchips on top. We need to do this in one day. Bring in the load of chips and get it done. No stretching it out over several days. Next year will be a year of sprucing things up again. It just got out of hand this year. I didn't feel connected to the garden in the way that I normally do. There's probably several reasons for that. And I dislike it. I love my garden.

The beds need to be topped with compost. Everything needs to be freshened up.

Right now, there's a 1000 peppers just wasting. I brought in a bucket full.

In 2026, we'll just do jalapenos, bell, pimento and Anaheim (to finally can green chilis for recipes) and a couple of lunchbox peppers for the Vego bed. . Six tomato plants. Onions, garlic, green beans, cucumbers, melons, potatoes, sweet potatoes. okra, cabbage and maybe broccoli. A few of the small butternut squashes. Of course, all the greens/lettuces. That's basically it as far as veg goes. And not lots of each. Just what we can eat. Of course, I have perennial asparagus, blackberries, strawberries and elderberry, goji berry, and apple trees. More than likely, I'll have volunteer roselle.

Maybe some noodle beans from Kim's seed. And possibly carrots, radishes and small turnips.

It just has to be easy next year.

This has been an amazing pepper year and I hate that Rick missed it. I can't use all of them.

That wind was awful. I hadn't looked at the hoop house since Sunday. The new door that Tom built for it....it's trashed. I should have closed up the hoop house during that wind, but forgot about it, so the wind just blew it to pieces.

We have the old wood chip pile covered up to break down. The tarp was blown off in places even though we have concrete blocks on it. We put it back together tonight.

The Greenstalk is looking good. I'm harvesting salads from it now.

It's time to take the dog out and head to the bath. Goodnight, Friends.

I dug about 5 ft of the rest of my sweet potatoes, not much to show for it. These plants have been in the shade a lot. and the cool weather did not help either.

Down to 46 this morning, 33 was the low for yesterday, which has been my coldest this fall.

I feel like I am about done with gardening this year, and at this point I am not sure I will even try it next year.

I sorta feel the same way, Larry.

Kim, hope you had a productive market day.

Pretty sure we've had a light frost but the plants are not totally done. Damage, tho.

At 637 I realized I hadn't sit down at all today. Well, other than the laundromat, I guess. But, it's been a wonderfully productive day. I knew once I sat down I would fade fast and here I am. Just now sitting down. And fading fast.

We got the bedroom deep cleaned after the laundromat. My other laundry done at home. Feels so nice to catch up. I haven't had a day at home this week.

We put together the new shelf for the grow lights and it fits perfectly. The succulents are on it now. The one pantry is now in the shop. It will hold my empty jars and lids/rings.

Jen, do you want to come by to get your jars or should I hold them until SF?

Kim, we'll figure out about next week and if/when we can meet up at my house.

Tom took the hoop house door off and bought some stuff to fix it. Didn't get that done today.

We went into Norman because I need socks and I wanted to get a certain candle.

Came home and fed everyone and then decided to make cookies for Allen--Rick's old roomie. The new place he's staying finally contacted me about 3 weeks ago. The last place was easy. I really liked the lady who ran it. But the new place seems to think that we take him to lunch every Sunday. I'm not opposed to taking him to lunch but it probably won't be on Sundays. I feel bad, tho, and made cookies to take to him when we deliver his mail. The postal service seems to have figured out that no one is consistently getting the mail there and left a card. We went by last night. The house is just sitting there. The car and trucks are sitting exactly like how Rick left them last spring. So weird.

Anyway, maybe the new place feels bad that Allen doesn't have anyone at all. I don't really know him. Had only met him once before Rick died.

Also decided that all those tomatoes could be diced and thrown into the freezer, so did that too. And a few other things.

I'm hungry and that's it from me. It's been a good day.

Jennifer, you have really been busy.

Madge and I have been busy also, but not getting anything done. We went to my class reunion lunch today, and had a great time. Some of the classmates I had not seen in 64 years. If I counted correctly there were 13 classmates there, and some spouses of classmates that have already passed. I knew all but two of them, they have changed a lot in 64 years. There are 4 classmates that I know of that live close, but did not come, some may not have been able to come. At our age sometimes we just don't feel like doing anything.

We had a frost night before last, but only some of the plants got burned. I picked a bag of peppers to take to a classmate at the reunion, I had taken 8 bags of potatoes to a luncheon we had a couple of weeks ago I think he is coming out to see me soon to get some sweet potatoes.

My new friend called me while I was at the reunion, and wanted to visit, so he will come by tomorrow afternoon. My new friend was a barber for 70 years, and know everyone, he just cant seem to stop visiting, but I love it.............and I need to shut up, I am talking too much.

Good night gardening friends.

It was 31 this morning, and it looks like a killing frost, so it is game over for me.

I’m here. I’m reading and enjoying every word. I am also having a rough time with these markets. Physically And more. So far I have 100% success rates of coming out on the other side

HJ, thanks. Right now things are busy so I don't think I'll be able to swing by any time soon. Dust doesn't matter, they'll clean.

I've got a cup of garlic cloves sitting in my fridge; I need to get them planted but weekends haven't been very free lately. This weekend we worked on winterizing our well pipes and the outside faucet, then all the routine chores. Next weekend is our church open house and dedication service, so this weekend is packed. Maybe the folowing weekend.

I have two tomatoes left; after that I'm stuck with store tomatoes until spring. Very depressing thought. And I've made my last batch of candied peppers, so I'm going to have to ration them out for the next little bit.

You know, Jen, I don't even buy tomatoes in the "off" season. I'm happy to hold the jars for you until you're ready for them. What is your candied pepper recipe?

We've not had a real frost yet. Some of the plants might have been bit a little. My flower pots look bad, but honestly it's probably from lack of watering. I'm letting it go right now. Just not the time after work with it getting dark so early. It is nice getting up with a bit of light, tho.

My new grow lights came in but they're not on the shelf yet.

A Facebook memory came up 3 days ago. It was my Kitchen Garden. It was tidy and had broccoli and cabbages all planted cutely in the beds. It's SO far from that now. It's absolutely wild....and maybe not in a good way. Makes me feel overwhelmed. I'll just have to start fresh next year.

I'll have Wednesday morning/early afternoon off work this week and might clean up some things. There's a low of 33 showing next Monday. Should I leave the peppers or not? It's always a thing.

It's time to shut it down. It's November and my brain needs to start thinking about hosting Thanksgiving not watering the garden.

Kim is coming in the morning to get jars! Looking forward to that.

Larry, enjoy your off time!

Jennifer, my min/max is on the back porch, and it got down to 31, and a pretty heavy frost on the cars. Most of my sweet potato plants are gone, but the peppers look okay. Madge did go out and pick peppers to freeze because we expect that the plants wont last much longer. Your peppers may be fine with a low of 33.

I tried to dig a few more sweet potatoes today. The kids are all busy. and Madge and I are not able to do much, but I just hate not digging the rest of the potatoes. I may just fire up my small tractor and push the okra plants out to the edge of the garden, then wash the dirt off the root balls, then go around to the north garden and drag the middle buster through the sweet potatoes, and pick up the ones I can find. I can push the pile of okra plants out into the pasture and use the tractor to level up the garden. I did that last year and it worked fine. I need to start cleaning up around here, I need to start turning the gardens back into lawn, I just cant take care of things like I use to.

I don't think that you ever have any time off if you own a home, you just get to the point that you just have to hire everything done.

That's so true, Larry. Even when it's "game over" for the garden because of frost, it's not really over. There's still stuff to clean up. Always something to do around the house for sure.

If you're letting your garden go back to lawn, maybe your kids can help you make raised beds near to your house.

Some of the easiest one we've done are with these corner pieces. (Below is a link)

corner pieces for raised bed

If the area around your house is pretty level, a double or triple stack is nice. We just have a single layer of them now but had a double layer at one time. The middle of the blocks have a place to put rebar to hold it together if you want. The boards just slide in to the notches of the blocks. If you started building them now, you could compost in them for the next few months until spring planting and then top with some good soil/finished compost. Maybe build 10 of them. Enough to keep you and Madge in fresh veg. A couple of shorter Greenstalks would be easy for you to grow greens in. You'd have a nice kitchen garden just for the two of you.

Kim is coming in a while and then I'm going to put away my Halloween decor and get out the Thanksgiving stuff. I don't have much and that is good. It feels weird to have a day off and a partial day off tomorrow. Tomorrow late afternoon/evening, we're working on the Christmas program, but I'll be home in the morning and early afternoon.

I have dried peas to shell and roselle to put in the dehydrator, so will work on that today too.

Jennifer, I don't want any raised beds. I don't walk well enough to fool with anything like that. I do my best work sitting on a tractor seat. I may try to have a row or two of something that I can drive the tractor, and, or mower between, but walking and bending are out. My body is just too shot to work like it use to.

I also meant to ask it your sweet potatoes are any good? We have had sweet potatoes 3 or 4 times, maybe more, but they all have been great. As soon as it warms up a little I plan on digging more sweet potatoes.

I just checked the south garden. I have a lot of frost damage in the south garden, and have a lot of peppers to pick. I hate to just leave them on the plant, so I will at least harvest some of them to use for cooking. I expect that I can freeze them. I love the hot ones in beans and stew, and Madge uses the sweet peppers in cooking also. Most of the sweet peppers are pimentos, and they are good in about anything.

I am going to be worn out before I get around to digging potatoes,but all the clean up work has to be done also.

More boring sweet potato pictures.

I don't recall planting a sweet potato in this area this year, matter of fact, I don't ever remember planting a sweet potato here, but one grew this year, and because it was under my pimento peppers , I decided not to dig it till it was time to harvest the last of the peppers. I thought that this might be a purple sweet potato because I had planted some purple potatoes about 6 or 8 feet from this spot. It almost has to be a Covington, because purple and Covington is all that I have grown in several years.

This is a picture of the other strays that were growing around the pepper plants. I picked up around 20 pounds of strays from under the pepper plants. The nearest potatoes were planted 6 feet away.

And, yes, I still have more potatoes to dig.

Madge has been chopping up pimento peppers to freeze. and I have at least 2 bags of hot peppers to take over to my daughter tomorrow. Next, I need to harvest the rest of the potatoes and peppers in the north garden, and the pasture garden. Next year I am going to listen to Madge, and not plant so much, maybe nothing at all.

Larry that looks like a great last minute harvest to me. I had the best time at Jennifer’s yesterday. I loved seeing the beautiful gardens. Such a nice place. Now when you talk I can picture it. I came home with a car load of goodies. Jennifer give yourself grace this year. Cut yourself some slack. You are doing great, doing what you are able in this season. That’s all you have to do. And it’s enough. I forgot tulsi seed but I think maybe you might have enough to bring me some to the fling next year : )

It was so fun gardening with you, Kim. Glad you were able to get a crate of roselle and peppers. Makes me feel better. I planted too many peppers and hate for them to waste. Like you said, peppers are so fun to grow. They're pretty and such a variety of choices.

Next year, I'm going to reel it in a bit and only do bell, pimento, jalapeno, and anaheim (to can green chilis). Plus a couple of the lunchbox ones in the Vego bed.

I think I've already said this. lol

Once you get tulsi going, it becomes almost a nuisance. haha. I'm going to try to keep it in that area that I showed you behind the coop. I just dislike pulling volunteers, but if I don't, the kitchen garden will look like it does right now. I will bring you some to SF. It makes good tea.

I'm so happy you were able to take the jars, Kim. SO happy. I love jars but can't keep them all right now. I'm thrilled they're going to a good home. There's still plenty for me and honestly, I know where 4 new boxes are at work. Those will have to find a home as we're cleaning out the building and packing stuff up. Either that, or I'll have to come up with a kid craft to use them up. Maybe Prayer Jars or something.

Thank you for the goldenrod, seed, citrus plants....and the hens will be very happy with the dried worms. Those are a real treat for them because I don't buy them anymore as they're so pricey!

Speaking of hens, we pulled the last "stored eggs" from the shop refrigerator this morning. I had 5 eggs in the coop yesterday, but often only getting 2 a day for the past month. Last year they laid all year (although slowed down) and I had more stored up.

Normally when this happens, I move to oatmeal for breakfast instead of eggs every day.

I'm about to put the shelled peas in jars to store, put the roselle into the dehydrator and a couple of other indoor tasks. Then plan on moving outside to pull plants and clean up the kitchen garden.

Honestly, I don't feel like working outside, but these tasks need to be done. The plants will freeze out in a few days anyways. I'm so ready to move my tasks/activities indoors for the season.

I went to Pilates last night. It's a reformer class with 6 people. About 10 minutes in, our teacher came over to me and started doing adjustments. This is not unusual as she often sees something "wrong" with a student and that student gets extra attention. I rarely complain about anything so it's not common for me to get special treatment. However, I didn't have to say anything. She saw it. (this is studio pilates not club type of pilates) After it all, she showed me the pelvis bones (she has skeletons and whatnot so she can show us stuff) and that mine was severely misaligned. She said she honestly didn't know how I was walking. I just told her that I'm stubborn.

Sitting here isn't getting stuff done. I need to plan my day so there's time to clean up and get to work this late afternoon.

Jennifer, I hope those worms will kickstart your hands into being more motivated to lay some eggs. It’s so funny how I win contest really without even trying. And when they said I want a bag of worms I thought well isn’t that something. Today I begin the shed project. I will be setting up camera too video and hope that it’s not too painful. I also have to load all my Market stuff back into the car and get ready for Saturday’s market. Right now I’m just laying in the sunshine. Jennifer, I wish you lived closer because I really could use the rest of the hibiscus but sadly I wouldn’t have time to come and pick them before the freeze so goals for next year. Do not get my plants mixed up. The only Roselle that I ended up with are the two that I got from you at the spring fling. None of my seeds germinated and none of the volunteers were actual Roselle although I have been enjoying the 4 o’clock’s. Those I got from Moni a couple years ago and I actually planted them last year and they are beautiful although they didn’t grow very big this year at all. I need to try and get out and save some of those seeds as well. Up and at it.

I took my small tractor and plowed up maybe 20 more pounds of sweet potatoes, and pushed out a couple of rows of okra.

My daughter works from home today, so we plan on taking her 3 more sacks of peppers, stopping on the way to pick up lunch for the 3 of us.

I have a sack of cayenne peppers, Madge is wanting to "string" them. I am not sure that will work, I sorta want to put them in a mix and keep them in the refrigerator. I am not sure which way will be the best, but I enjoy the way they make food taste

Stringing will work best in my experience. Once they dry out on the string, it will last forever.

Kim, I wish you had time to get more roselle too. But, they've been cut down (no easy task because they're huge plants) and put in the burn pile now. I left one just in case I want more dried. My dehydrator is full of it now.

I probably will not start roselle seed next year and just hope for volunteers. Should be plenty and I'll be happy to dig them up and offer them at SF.

Oh! And, Kim, I found a roselle plant in the burn pile this morning. It's a fun little area on the property for a big chunk of the year. All sorts of things come up even after we burn the pile in the early spring.

I was able to get the roselle cut down and ALL the basil pulled out. About 25 plants all entwined with other plants because I left too many volunteers. Those weird wild marigolds that showed up in the tomato beds. I'm not allowing those to be in the kitchen garden next year, although they were a joy this year after Rick's death and after the tomatoes drowned.

Maybe they'll come up in the burn pile too.

The basil, I put in the trash. It's already seeding everywhere.

Cleared out the dead cucumbers and melons and a few of the zinnias that were totally dead. There's some with flowers still and butterflies are visiting my garden even now in November.

Remembered that there are beets, turnips, radish and carrots in the garden, so watered those by hand. There's exactly 7 carrots that survived whatever was eating the seedlings. lol. They're in a 4'x8' bed. Lots of wasted space. But, in the spring, cabbage can be planted with those 7 carrots.

I'm going to leave the tomatoes and peppers until Saturday evening or Sunday afternoon and pull the fruit.

Jen, if you're able to come anytime in the near future, you're welcome to any tomatoes that I have. They're not as pretty as the spring/summer ones, but if you don't mind cutting off the bad spots like I do, you can have them. Normally I just pull the green ones and let them ripen indoors once we get frost. To me, they still taste a lot better than ones from the store. Some green ones fell off today as I was trying to untangle basil and marigolds from the tomatoes.

It's been a productive day.

I'll come back with a picture of the tomatoes that fell off.

I meant to say serrano peppers rather than cayenne peppers. I am afraid the serrano peppers will be a little harder to dry.

Larry I think the important thing is to use a cotton string and hang them in a dry area. ……………….. Jennifer while I was cleaning the shed out I had an idea about the citrus trees and grow lights. I will put them in the loft. My son put a plug up there and I have a power strip to plug them into. I can hang a curtain to block the light. I Will need to get it done by tomorrow so I can move the citrus in. I also need to get the roselle done

Kim, we leave lights on in the house all the time. We have become so unstable on out feet and afraid of falling, and I use one of my grow light stands as a hand rail going into the bathroom. I am very dizzy when I get up and need something to hold on to. Also if we leave some of the grow lights on it is of no bother,the grow light are of a color that does not light up the room a lot.

I have more potatoes to dig today, oh why didn't I listen to my wife when she said "don't plant so much? I may still be digging potatoes at Christmas.

I have to take it easy today, I have an ultrasound on my heart today. My heart disease is progressing and the doctor is wanting to keep an eye on it. It seem as tho every time I turn around, some doctor wants to poke on me somewhere. You can tell that you are moving up in the world when all of your friends are doctors.

These grow lights are hard on the eyes, so it’s not something I want to see at all. Jennifer and I talked about it the other day when I went there. I typically keep my grow lights on my plants. 16 hours a day eight hours off so that is what I will do for the citrus. Just keep in mind for the spring fling if anybody needs citrus I’ll hopefully have some. My nephew’s gonna take several. I want to get some citrus tone Espoma fertilizer. Give him a good fighting chance.

Larry, these lights are a purple color and aren't great for human eyes although wonderful for plants. It's one of the reasons I wanted the light shelf out of the 3rd bedroom. I've avoided that room for many reasons and the lights are one of them. It's a room where I should be working on my herb book that I started over 2 years ago. And, it's a room with a comfy chair that would be good for catching up on reading when Tom is watching something on TV that I'm uninterested in. I used to put on headphones and watch my favorite garden and homestead type of YouTube videos, but lately my favorites aren't my favorites any longer. So, yes, reading. That will be a great activity for dark season.

Kim, that's a great idea--using your loft that way.

Not much to add today. Just at work and the number of calls needing food continues to increase. We often help people and the homeless too. But, the homeless food needs are a little different than the people who aren't get SNAP benefits or people who have been furloughed and aren't getting a paycheck. And even some of the state workers are not being paid for a day now, so their paychecks are cut. What a mess.

Tonight, if I can get home in time (before dark), I would like to dump my horseradish pot to see what I have to work with.

Kim, I finally remembered my fire cider recipe. I use the old fashioned one from before it got so popular. Pretty sure Rosemary Gladstar coined it years ago in the 70s and it's her original recipe. Anyway, it's simple: onion, garlic, GINGER (that was the one I couldn't remember), horseradish and apple cide vinegar. Then, add a bit of powdered cayenne or actual peppers too. After straining it, I add honey.

Jennifer, I like Rosemary Gladstar. She started a lot of things back in the 70s that people are just now catching onto. She wasn’t the pioneer but she was good at keeping the old ways going.

Y'all may remember me saying that I wanted to grow smaller sweet potatoes. Well, I am getting better at it. This is a picture of some of the potatoes that I dug this morning. I have been getting my better potatoes from the runners. I planted 4 short rows back on 7-14&16. These potatoes have grown mostly in the shade. It was 1:20 when this picture was taken, and the sun is just now getting to the potatoes. If these potatoes would have been planted a month to 6 weeks sooner, and had been in more sun, they would be pretty nice potatoes. I still have more potatoes to dig, but I have got to get ready to go to Ft. Smith fo a Dr. appointment.

I have at least one more row of potatoes to dig. We are to have a cold weekend, and I need to get all of there potatoes into the house. It looks like I will have at least 250 pounds of potatoes to give away, but my daughter tells me that she has found it easy to give away all the extra produce.

That is such a blessing Larry

I like Rosemary too, Kim. I find her books and recipes easy to use.

Larry, that's just great! And I'm glad your daughter found a place to give the extra produce.

Yes, ladies, it has been a bad gardening year for me, but, I have still produced more produce than I could use. If Madge and I were younger we could have saved more produce for us, but we are not able to do the things we use to do.

I dug (3) 5 gallon buckets of sweet potatoes today. I expect to dig less than one 5 gallon bucket full tomorrow, then I will harvest the rest of the peppers, and call it quits. I still have onions and garlic to plant, but I wont get in a hurry to do that. I will have to do a little soil prep before I can plant anything.

Well, I stopped working on the shed so that I could harvest everything that needs to be harvested before the frost Saturday night. I discovered that my market is not in the morning like usual it is actually from noon until eight. I don’t know who plans these markets but if they’re a single person working at eight hour Market well they just wouldn’t plan it for eight hours 4 to 5 hours is the most that you can comfortably work on concrete. So I harvested my potatoes, I harvested one Roselle, bush, all the okra,and going back out to finish the other Roselle. Fun, fun, fun.

Well, I messed up. I thought that it said harvest the sun chokes as soon as the plant died, but it does not say that and now I have an abundance of sunchokes that I have to eat in the next few weeks because I could’ve left them in the ground and harvested as wanted. But I did get that cut down, and I will drag it over to the burn pile in a little bit. I really need to water everything that is still alive and cover it with row cover.

You've been SO productive, Kim! I'm hoping to do a bit more outside tomorrow afternoon. We had to pivot this evening. Were supposed to go to dinner with friends. But daughter isn't feeling well so I brought the baby home to let her rest with her husband. We took him to eat and do some grocery shopping and looked for new books for out house. Nothing to note about the garden.

But, will bring in the winter squash and all the tomatoes regardless of color tomorrow.

I have a lot that I harvested early in the week that are ripe now. I guess I'll just dice them and throw them in the freezer like the last batch. I still have the ones I pulled on Wednesday that were green, but are quickly changing colors. And I'll bring in the last batch of the year tomorrow.

That's it for me.

Thank you Jennifer. I don’t feel so productive. Especially trying to video. It takes almost twice as long, especially because I’m dealing with a phone that doesn’t have enough storage. I harvested a bunch of hibiscus and I even harvested the blooms and the tiny pre-bloom buds and made a tea to take to my Market with me tomorrow. I used a little Stevia because it needed something. I got a sweet potato video up on my channel my regular gardening channel and I got a video on my peaceful living channel and I’m going to be doing a whole series about cleaning out my shed so hopefully that will give me something to do in the off-season. I can run an extension cord with a heater out there. I know that sounds really risky, but I only plug the heater in if I’m standing right there watching everything. I used to have electricity in my shed and it got compromised at some point. A rat must’ve chewed through the wire. And we’ve never been able to get it fixed. My sons are coming to help me the Wednesday before Thanksgiving and get some things done around here that I cannot do by myself and I am very, very, very thankful for them. I still have some more hibiscus to harvest and I might be out there in the dark when I get home from Market tomorrow night

I have been thinking a lot about harvesting and processing our crops. It should be obvious that I’ve never allow enough time for harvesting and processing. But I’m just slowly awakening to this idea that I need to plan better knowing what I know about this process. In working my plan for next year Maybe I can stagger some of the harvesting processing, etc. I mean, I know it sounds like a perfect plan have enough time for everything, but that is what I am endeavoring to do. This year I planted green beans late summer according to the calendar that was given me for this area and I didn’t get one well hardly one B. But definitely not enough to make a meal. Maybe it was just a variety I chose. It was a purple pond. I know I was definitely grow long noodle beans and okra, but they are going to be in a different spot.

Well, I have learned something this morning. I have read that you should not feed your sweet potato plants because you would get more vines than sweet potatoes. I notice while picking my peppers late yesterday, that I had some sweet potatoes sticking out of the ground around the pepper plants. I side dress my pepper plants 2 or 3 times during the year, and although the sweet potatoes were planted several feet away, the runners still ran up around the peppers. When I dug under these runners I got some of the best potatoes that I have harvested this year. I now have near (9) 5 gallon buckets, (2) large produce crates of sweet potatoes. This is plus all that I have stored and given away. Next year, if I am able to garden, I will feed my sweet potatoes. I plan on feeding the ground at planting time, then 2 or 3 more times through the growing season.

The bucket in the center front is the bucket of potatoes that I dug this morning, that bucket was dug in approx 15 sq. ft.. The bucket to the right is the potatoes that I have been experimenting with to be able to grow the size of potatoes that I like. I also have another bucket sitting by the back door, that I am expecting for a guy to come by today and pick up. I plan of going to deer camp today, most of us are getting unable to get out, and I want to see them while I can.

That's impressive, Larry. Those look so good. And good to know about fertilizing.

Kim, do some videos as you're figuring out the harvesting/processing procedure. People love seeing people figure stuff out. And watching someone plant something, harvest and then process is super fun to watch. Can you splice video together in that way?

I'm also trying to figure all of that out.

This afternoon, I was able to grab all the winter squash of all sizes/colors. They're on a wire shelf in the utility room. Some had already been brought in a few weeks ago and the ones before that were chopped and frozen.

Also got a bucket of green and mostly green tomatoes in various sizes. Some of the ones that I brought in last week went "bad" so they were given to the chickens. There's more on the rack now that I have to deal with tonight. Will probably just chop and freeze again. I have a couple of the True Black Brandywine that are ripe now. I ate one this morning and it was so good. I might have to grow 7 tomatoes next year and include one of those. Even tho it doesn't produce much, the taste is just delightful. I like those and Dr. Wyche the best tastewise.

Also got the rest of the PEPH and a few more peppers. Covered the potatoes in the hoop house. And that is that. The rest will freeze now.

I'm going to try to clean up my pots and trays to store away this next week. After this week, I must transition to holiday mode. (Garden and related things will be put on hold.) I'm running behind in that area. As the hostess for all of it now, I have to get my head in it. I am SO thankful that my family as agreed to celebrate Thanksgiving on Wednesday. It just makes everything so much easier. We don't have to compete with other sides of the family that way. Also, it allows me to begin decorating for Christmas on Thanksgiving Day. Normally I do that the Friday and Saturday after Thanksgiving, but we have a wedding to attend that Saturday. Time is going to fly over the next few weeks.

I had a great day yesterday. I went to our old beer camp, we have been camping that area for over 40 years, but I had stopped hunting about 30 years ago, but would go to camp from time to time just to harass the rest of the guys. Only 2 of the older group were there, they are quite a bit younger than me. All of the older one are already dead. I had a great time, some of the younger ones, that were kids then, now are grown with kids of their own. most of the younger ones I did recognize, but many recognized me. It is amazing how time flies.

I plan on cleaning out the rest of the peppers, and maybe digging for a few more sweet potatoes today before the cold weather hits tonight. I don't have much alive now, and expect to have nothing left alive tomorrow.

Sounds like everyone is hustling and having fun harvesting the last bits before the frost. I have been doing the same. I was sad to pick the last hibiscus. I picked a bunch of leaves after reading the health benefits. I am going to make an end of season soup. Onions, okra, leeks, hibiscus leaves, green beans and long noodles beans. I will also use some chicken and lentils and garlic. I might even throw in some sweet potatoes.

I have pick about all that I am going to pick. I need to bring my onion and garlic stock in off the back porch, it may get too cold for it..

Emmy and Jerry came over to pick up the last of my peppers. There is still a few out in the garden, but I am not going to fool with anymore.

I made a new thread.