Focus on the positive

First of all, thank you to all those wonderful readers who took time to make such thoughtful comments on my last post. Reading them did improve my outlook, and gave me much to think about. The downward spiral continues, but I think at a slower pace than it was, and I’m going to work to move back upwards by following some of your good advice. So, this morning I took my morning tea and my camera to the potager to focus on the positive.

The “Velour” beans are ready to be picked, and I’d better do it before tonight, when it may frost. I do love these French fillet type beans. They are so pretty, tender and prolific. Maybe I will even pull out the frost covers and try to save them for a second picking.

French Baby Leeks

The leeks are getting fat and will be sweeter after a frost or two. There’s a lot of them to be dug as needed through the holidays, and maybe well into January if the winter is mild. They won’t need any attention and will wait until I need them. That’s certainly a positive.

Turnip “Purple Top”

Frost won’t hurt the turnips either and will also make them sweeter. They are coming along nicely from a mid-August planting. I probably should thin them, but if I don’t they’ll manage.

The “Wando” peas are beginning to get plump pods as well as being loaded with blooms, so just to be safe, I will give them a cover. The bees that have been working the flowers will appreciate it after frost takes most other flowers.

There’s Tom Thumb Lettuces galore!

We’ve been enjoying these Tom Thumb mini butterhead lettuces for a couple of weeks now. One head is just right for a single serving, and the larger outer leaves are perfect for BLT’s or pork wraps. There are four more rows scattered in other potager beds…too many for me to cover them all unless I strip all the beds for sheets and blankets! I DO need to get those berry box/coldframes made, don’t I?

A taller fencing was used for them this year, and that was a good move.

The French Horticultural bean pods are bumpy and turning pink so they are ready to pick. They are so yummy and versatile we had no trouble at all using all I grew last year, so this year I planted twice as many. Probably better to pick them before a frost, at least all the pinkish ones, so that gets moved up on the to-do list…maybe this afternoon if the sun shines?

The same tomato plants I pruned earlier in September.

And now I come face to face with the tomatoes! There’s still a lot of half-ripe and green fruit out there, along the potager’s fence and in four other beds. Do I pick them and carry them all to the garage to slowly ripen? Or, since so many have been canned already can they just be allowed to succumb to frost? A big part of me just wants to walk away and leave them, but then I’ll feel guilty for wasting them and that’s not a positive feeling.

Mercy! This focusing on the positive isn’t going to be easy!!!

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