Post Season: First Snow

On Christmas Eve, we were out and about without coats.  By yesterday morning (Christmas Day)....BRRRR!  We woke up today to a couple of inches of show on the ground, and it's still falling. 

There's always breakfast at Nanny's house on Christmas morning:  home-made biscuits, country ham and sausage, sawmill gravy, eggs, potatoes, pies, and cakes.  Between the feasting and the present-opening, I took a quick stroll out to the garden to see how the "fall garden" was faring.

You might recall that I planted sugar snap peas, broccoli, brussels sprouts, radishes, beets, and greens in October.  It appears that I planted them a little too late.  We've been eating greens and radishes for a few weeks now.  A couple of the broccoli plants have tennis ball heads on them, but they've been nipped by the few frosts that we've had and don't look very appetizing.  The brussels sprouts have formed promising-looking leaf cups in the center, but no stalks yet.  It will be interesting to see how they react to seriously cold weather.  I'm going to leave them in the ground and see if they'll kick into gear in the spring. 

I was hopeful that we would be eating snap peas this fall.  They grew and bloomed nicely, but I haven't seen a single pea pod.  Judging from the hoof prints up and down the row and the truncated vines, the deer apparently have seen them and have relieved me of the chore of picking and eating them. 

It looks like my outdoor gardening is officially over for 2012.  But, just think, it's only about 6 more weeks until it's time to break ground for the early spring crops, like potatoes and cabbages and broccoli.  I have seeds left over from the fall plants; it'll soon be time to start them indoors for the spring garden. 

Meanwhile, there's a quilt in the quilt frame that's demanding my attention, one in pieces on my work counter, and one more still in the fabric store sack that I haven't even cut out, yet.  I'd best get busy if they're to be finished by spring.