Well, Halloween has come and gone and just like THAT we are looking at stick season and the fifty shades of gray that come with leafless trees and snow-less landscapes . All except for my exuberant crop of green and somewhat warty pumpkins.

With all the goings-on here this summer – the barn site work, electrical trenches, etc., it was bound to happen. The “inmates” made a break for it ! Either my animals let themselves out, broke through the fencing, or gates were accidentally left open by the “visitors”(I hear tell).  Maybe, a combination of all of the above? At any rate, let’s just say there were a few hoof prints in my garden and some trampled young plants. Three times! So, I planted Memorial Day, two weeks later, and again after that.

Now I have a heap of green pumpkins. Interesting pumpkins, really. Kind of pretty orange “faces” where the rind lay on the ground. I am thinking green pumpkin pie, green pumpkin soup, green pumpkin lasagna. The recipes are endless and what a nice new twist on the old standard!  🙂

I had lots of help last weekend, thanks to enlisted family and friends who were staying with us. The garden has been put to bed for the winter. The garlic is planted, awaiting its winter mulch blanket. The sheep are getting bawdy, anxious to get on with breeding season, and the cattle are settled in their winter quarters. The chickens and ducks will be moving over to the barn soon. Then we watch and wait for the grays of “stick ” season to be frosted with a confection of crystalline white.  Soon, I  will catch my breath and begin to plan for next year.