October Tomatoes and Other Fall Garden Surprises

Tennessee is such a weird place, weather wise, but I wouldn't change it for anywhere else. We get all four seasons, the best and the worst, sometimes all in one day. You can't say you're a Tennessean if you've never had (or at least wanted) to use the air-conditioning and the heat in the same day.

And I'd reckon it's safe to say that Tennessee is one of the few places where you can find the occasional backyard tomato in October. Which is exactly what happened to me.

I thought our tomatoes had died out, but then I went and looked closely, and on October 18 we had at least 10 green tomatoes.

So of course I used this occasion for some Hipstamatic Garden fun time.

But I wasn't sure what to do. Green tomatoes were plentiful, but I found fried green tomatoes a little too intimidating. The weather was not going to stay above freezing for much longer, so instead, we just picked the green tomatoes and waited for them to ripen. Eventually, I had a delicious yellow tomato BLT. Some of the tomatoes went to waste, but at least I managed to salvage enough for a tomato sandwich during the heart of fall.

As for everything else, well, the weeds have taken over. I had planted some fall greens – bok choy, Chinese cabbage, kale, spinach... but I only got about one salad out of it because of traveling every weekend and not taking the time to cover the raised beds.

The green beans came and went a little more quickly. Again, when you're out of town on the weekends and working during the week, you just don't find the time to give your poor little fall garden the attention it deserves.

I did, at least, end up with several hot peppers at the end of October, perfect for adding to tacos or chili.

But now my garden is done, with the exception of my aforementioned garlic. Oh well. Now I hibernate until February or March, and enjoy the fruits of my mom's labor – all the tomato juice she put up, the green beans and peppers she froze, and so on... thank goodness.