Garden Update November 25

The peppers and tomatoes are not ripening quickly enough, but all I can do is wait, and pick them all at the last possible moment before the next frost. It's possible that some critter (a racoon?) is stealing the ripest tomatoes, but I see no sign of it, except that the dogs sometimes signal at night that something is over there.

I'm getting compost ready for that bed and when I clear it, I'll rototill it and prepare the bed for yellow onions, to be started indoors and transplanted in February.

I hauled a load of tree branches to the dump. It would have been nice to chip and add them to the compost pile, but I don't have the time or energy. I'll do more tree trimming once it gets colder, so maybe I'll be able to chip some wood then. I try to clear and clean up quickly, but I have neighbors that let crap just pile up, and their property looks like hell. One neighbor has not cleared a section by the road in more than a year, and a huge 6-foot tall hedge of sticker bushes has developed. I don't know how someone could clear it at this point. I'll bet that the county will eventually do it with heavy equipment, and then charge back the property owner.

The peas and red onions are doing well, and the garlic has begun to sprout. I've got about 50 gallons of rain water in the tank, saved from the latest series of little storms. More little storms starting again on Wednesday.

I need to start processing lemons, I have a large number ripe on the tree.