Beautiful fall weather this week, chilly nights, cool days

[Clipper]

This old thin blooded Tennessean is feeling the chill. It was only 44 when I first went out with the dog this morning, and is only 55 now. I am ashamed to admit that I put on a winter jacket to go out this morning. Geez. I used to only wear a quilt lined flannel shirt for most of the winter when we first moved here. This is more like the NY autumn weather that I used to look forward to. Getting in that last bit of fishing and scouting my favorite hunting spots to check the deer movement in preparation for big game hunting season was the order of the day. The big difference is that here it will be going back into the high 70's and low 80's next week.

It is a pleasant day with sunshine and blue skies. Perfect day for picking another 3 or 4 quarts of cherry peppers for canning, a dozen or so more bell peppers that are ready for picking, and a couple of dozen Anaheim chili peppers for freezing. I will cut the tops off some of them and seed them so they can be frozen whole for battered, stuffed, and deep fried chili rellenos. The rest will be cut into strips to be mixed with sweet peppers later to either roast or pan fry for sandwiches.

I can't believe how prolific and high yielding the pepper plants are this year. I have a lot of peppers that will still be coming when the frost finally ends the gardening for the year. While I pick 3 or 4 peppers off each bell pepper plant every week or so, there are another 4 or 5 little peppers and still lots of blossoms popping out. The cherry pepper plants look like miniature apple trees, heavy with bright red fruit and with more green ones coming. The plants are growing taller than any peppers I have ever planted. I have pepper plants that are over 4 feet tall and are threatening to tip over the cages and stakes because they are heavy on the upper branches of the plant. I don't know what I may have done differently this year but I hope that my luck continues next season.

[clarencebunsen]

It is a bit chilly. I just checked and at lunch time it is 63 on the main floor. That would be OK for yard work in a jacket but it makes my hands ache. I opened the house up to let some of the warmer outside air in.

[Clipper]

It has gotten up to 68 and it is pleasantly sunny and cool. Perfect weather for outside work. I picked some of the peppers for Kathy to pickle and some bell peppers to cut up, vacuum seal, and freeze for winter. Kathy's nephew had cut a couple of small trees that were hanging over the garage roof when he went to do the roof sealing. Probably 15 feet or so tall and 5 inches in diameter. I cut them into pieces about 2-3 feet long and piled all the brush and branches in a tight and compact pile for burning. I took what was big enough for burning in a firepit and stacked it next door for my neighbor that has a campfire just about every weekend.

[BHU]

Our garden is just about done. Yesterday I pulled the tomato plants & raked it out. I left the longhot pepper plants as there are still a few on them. I'll let them go & see what happens. I have quite a few in the freezer that I left whole & this week I'll head to the produce stand & grab a few more for freezing. Last year I froze a few Cubanele's for frying over the winter. I sliced them first & when I thawed them out they were a soggy wet mess. This year I'll freeze them whole & see what happens. The weather up here has been fantastic this entire month. I planted a ton of grass seed, fertilized it, covered it with straw & it's germinating in a week. I think I know what killed off the grass this year. When I was tilling I noticed an abundance of grubs. Between those critters & the hot dry weather, it really did a job on my lawn.