Autumn is Creeping In on Tip Toes, But I'm Not Ready Yet

I'm ahead of schedule today, on a very busy day, but not because I was really good at setting my alarm. Rather, I awakened a bit after 2:00 am and simply couldn't fall back to sleep. So, I got an hour's jump on my day. All things totaled, that's not a horrible thing. I'll actually be able to sleep in a bit longer than usual on Sunday since we won't be going to Renaissance Festival,. We'll be going to the MN Gem and Mineral Show instead. 

We always look forward to the MN Gem and Mineral Show. The 
new State Fairgrounds location has been a great shift for them.  
The number of people attending the show has gone up a LOT. 
One of the vendors dropped into the shop yesterday for a few 
supplies and said that it's been a great move for them - much 
more room for each vendor, and a LOT more customers. 

This time of the year is always a more difficult adjustment for me than any other seasonal changeover. We're moving into Autumn now, and Winter is knocking at the door. I'm NOT ready for that at all. The garden looks sparse in sections because DH has been transplanting a variety of plants to new locations for next Spring, and because the colder temperatures are slowly causing the plants to either go dormant or die back. 

At this time of the year, our growing season is coming to 
an end. My tomato plants aren't getting as many ripe tomatoes, 
and those that are unripened might well remain unripe. 
We still gets lots of sun, but the temperatures are colder - 
enough that we're skirting with frost. I expect we'll have 
our first frost before too long and that will be the end 
of this year's crop. 

My tomato crop this year actually ripened at a sustainable rate - I didn't feel completely overwhelmed by the amount of tomatoes I was getting. I did dehydrate a small batch just to see how it would go (it worked beautifully), and I'll use those in cooking later this season. But my plants are slowing down. I have several Jalapeno peppers trying their best to ripen before the frost, and they might make it. But they probably won't be quite as red as those I got earlier in the year. I have a bunch of Tabasco peppers on that plant waiting to ripen a bit more, so I'll have a lot of peppers to dehydrate from that plant. My banana peppers are pretty much done for the season. 

At this point of the year, most of my Tabasco peppers 
are yellow or orange. Still, these peppers can be 
harvested at any point, so I'll leave them to ripen 
as much as possible, then harvest them and dry them. 
They'll grind up beautifully for my winter chili and 
soup recipes. 

The hummingbirds have almost all left for the season. There are a few still hanging around, and of course I keep the feeder full for them. But, I'm not getting the crowds. The males left almost a month ago, and the females and young ones are leaving now. They have a LONG flight down to Costa Rica, and I'm looking forward to seeing them again in the Spring. I'll keep the feeder stocked for them until after we get a few hard frosts, of course. But that won't be much longer. 

I'm up in the yellow portion, shading into the green. We 
start seeing our hummingbirds start their migration a 
month ago when the males leave. Now the females and 
this year's crop of yearlings are also leaving for their 
long flight through the USA and down to Costa Rica. 
Not all of them will go that far South, but not all of 
them come this far North either - LOL. 

So Autumn is creeping in. Autumn is one of our most spectacular visual seasons here in the Frozen Northlands. The exceptional range of colors we get from our trees and other greenery as they move into their winter naps is always spectacular. I expect that next weekend's drive to and from the final weekend of Fest will be a gorgeous visual treat to end our Festival year with. 

So, I'm off to the pool. Have a lovely Wednesday and Slava Ukraini. I'll be back tomorrow.