Fall harvest, spring dreaming!

The night of the first hard frost, more than a month ago now, we rushed to harvest the tomatoes from the ranch garden. The vines hung in neat rows in the staff dining room, letting the green tomatoes ripen naturally. As Marley, Alma and Cameron ran back and forth, carrying in plants and tracking in dirt, green tomatoes bounced and rolled everywhere. 

Never one to let things go to waste, I grabbed a box and started collecting them. More than two boxes were full before the boys were content that they had saved every possible last plant that could be saved. I quietly closed up my boxes, and let them sit.

Just a few days ago I opened them-- oh! Glorious, ruby red tomatoes greeted me! Such beauties! I held them up to sun, and thought of the countless quarts of tomato sauce and salsa waiting to be canned. The whole event inspired me to start a garden of my own.

Pulling up rocks and dragging away railroad ties is hard work on a sunny day, but eventually I'll fill in the old flowerbeds (read: weed gardens) growing in front of the duplex where Chef Brian and I live. I'll build a rock wall around the edges, since I don't trust the creosote in the railroad ties. I've chopped up the hard clay soil, and heaped piles and piles of aged manure on top. It will bake away all winter, and come spring, we'll have our own staff garden!

-Ciara