Hard Frost and Buttoning Up the Barn

I think I can safely say the Hoosier Country Home garden is done for the season!  We've had hard frosts two nights in a row, and the plants are showing it.  I do have the last of the potatoes to dig and I'll probably wait for one more frost to harvest the horseradish, but the growing season is done.  We do have some pole beans we hope will dry on the vines

De and I went down to the garden Friday night and brought in the last of what we wanted to save.  It included a handful of small bell peppers, two little zucchini, one yellow zucchini squash, seven little white pumpkins that will become decoration for Daughter #2's wedding in three weeks, and a wheelbarrow load of "stripetti" spaghetti squash, and butternut squash.  It was dark (that happens about 7:30 these days) before we were done, thus the flash pics.

These pumpkins will be part of Daughter #2's wedding decorations.

These will part of a tasty array of warm winter meals!

The other weekend chore was to finish getting the barn buttoned up. Those of you who follow the blog has seen the open loft entrance for a good part of the summer.  This was the weekend to close it up!  The job is done, somewhat complicated by the fact that I struggle to make a straight cut within an 1/8th inch of where it supposed to be with any saw I own or use.  There is plenty of construction cleanup to do, but at least we can close up the barn.   Another pre-winter milestone met!

Finally done, with some decorative white trim!

Next up: (in no particular order) lights and winter watering arrangements in the coop, garden clean-up, finishing up the ham radio tower, one last lawn mowing and removing the deck, putting the compost pile to bed for the winter, and surely a host of thing I've forgotten or don't know about yet.  Ya gotta love life on the homestead!  Always something to do!

I hope everyone's pre-winter preps are going well and that everyone stays safe in the process.

Col. 1:9-12,

Mark