October Photos

Here is a small photo-dump from the backyard, on a Saturday, during an unsasonably warm October.

Our tomatos were anemic all summer and now, finally, at the very end of the season, they are producing like mad. These tomatoes were washed in a big bowl of water with a teaspoon of bleach (to kill any bugs hiding on the surface). I rinsed and dried them on a photogenic green towel. I ground them into sauce skins and all. Cherry tomatoes are delicate; no need to skin.

Finally two big mason jars of sauce went into the deep freeze for a cold winter pizza night.

I expect to get two, maybe three more jars full before the plants give up.

Mums and marigolds are in season. They are bright, cheerful, cheap, and plentiful at your local Fred Meyer. Decorate your porch.

I have been on a Quixotic quest to slowly replace all the grass in our back yard with clover and wildflowers. Earlier in the year I chose an 8' wide stripe next to our fence. I mowed the grass down as short as I could get it. I raked up the soil as best I could without buying a tiller. Along the way I found the remenants of an ancient brick patio. The patio was buried under about an inch of dirt with scrubby grass over it. The patio disappears under the fence into our neighbor's yard. Now it's the home for potted plants.

With the grass destroyed, I spread a thin layer of topsoil and planted a seed mix of clover, wildflowers, and other low-mow pretty things. For the rest of the yard, I systematically mowed it really short and spread red and white clover everywhere. The clover is taking hold and beating out the grass. One day soon will be the last day I mow the grass.