garden decline

This growing season is in its last days. We're forecast for below-freezing temperature beginning Thursday. I'm worried that I won't get any tomatoes this year from my Roma plants.  I got plenty of bok choi, since it naturalizes nicely to Minnesota climate.  I'm moving it next year, though, so it doesn't completely overshadow the plot that I had intended for asparagus instead.  You can see this year's spindly asparagus underneath.

There is also a small brown mouse somewhere in that frame, but I can't spot it it anywhere under the foliage.  I heard it squeak before I ever saw its fur by naked eye.  I couldn't find it in any of the pictures that I took with the camera.  Sneaky little mouse.

I'm planning to skip commuting by bicycle next year, hoping that I'll have more energy to devote to gardening instead.  The landscaping is almost complete, but I really need to finish it.  I keep experimenting every year with plants that require little effort to maintain.  I'm a big fan of xeriscaping for both environmental water-conserving reasons and personal stamina-conserving reasons.

Corn generates 1 or 2 cobs per stalk, and popcorn seems to work the same way. These photos show one of the stalks from the garden along with the cobs that I took from it. It had 4 cobs, but only 2 were useful.



I enjoy the appearance of red popcorn better, but I'll dry out these cobs and use them for a snack or two this winter.