After a bit of a delay, the garlic is in the ground and bedded well with straw. The potato bed has been amended, and covered with a tarp until freezing temperatures take hold – neighborhood cats are an issue and the thought grosses me out.

Got another batch of pasta sauce into the freezer today – with a total haul of about 150 lbs of green tomatoes (mostly cherries… next year I’ll limit myself to one plant of each variety), I’m pretty happy that 25 lbs has been made into sauce. I’ve also dehydrated a fair bit, but there’s still lots to sort through and use. Although a good portion will end up spoiled, it’s nice knowing that more than half of that will end up processed to feed my family. And even the portion I lose, ends up going back into the soil to return the nutrients lost during the growing season.

Salsa still needs to be made – perhaps tomorrow.

This is the time of year I can take stock of what I need to change for the next growing season. I was incredibly pleased with the celery we grew – it’s since been consumed except for a portion that was dehydrated or frozen for soups. Broccoli did well too, but I know I need to be more on the ball about using it immediately when it’s ready. Carrot… did not plant even remotely enough. Same with beans, though the beans were a battle between me and the local murder, who kept stealing my seed stock as it went into the ground (as well as the young shoots as they emerged). Also need a dedicated space for onions… what we harvested gets used quickly.

Potatoes? I think we’ll be mostly set, though hitting the 100 lb mark would be fantastic.

Tomatoes – I need to restrict myself to one of each cherry variety, then two of the larger ones. My go-to’s are definitely Mortgage Lifter, Principe Borgheis, and then either Amish Paste or Roma (or maybe one of each).

I need to remember not to waste valuable garden space on chard or spinach – we don’t eat it. Lettuce, ultimately goes to the rabbits, which is great… but I don’t need to plant it because it volunteers itself through my lawn every year.
Herbs… another bed that needs further organizing. I never have enough basil. The abundance of oregano I had last year failed to materialize this year. But the sage! The sage was lovely. And I have Rosemary and Thyme in an indoor garden box, to keep in the kitchen for the winter.

I think I need to take a few moments to write all this down, for my 2026 planning…