Thanksgiving Tomato

Several posts ago, as I was writing about the last days of my garden, I made a statement that I was going to try and have fresh garden tomatoes on my plate at Thanksgiving. The news is, I succeeded!

In mid-October, I dug up a tomato plant that was a "volunteer" sprout. The plant was maybe 2 months old and had just started to produce tomatoes when I found it growing in the spot where my bed of tomatoes had been in 2004. I took the plant inside and have watered it faithfully. The 3 tomatoes on it began to ripen during the week of November 14th, and I waited to pluck them from the vine at 4 p.m., November 24th. I sliced them up for garnishings on the green salad I served with all the turkey, dressing, greenbean casserole, pie...etc. etc.

The hoop green houses that I placed over my tomato plants in the backyard helped extend their life up until about Nov. 13th. We took them down - or should I say the wind took them down - and with heavy frost/snow forecast, I knew that the plastic was not going to protect them any longer. I picked the green tomatoes on Sunday afternoon, Nov. 13th, and the many (mostly cherry size) left are now ripening. I'm pleased I extended the season to this extent! Now my goal is to keep alive the tomato plants I've taken inside. In the Oct. 2004 Mother Earth News, there's an article about wintering over tomato plants inside and then starting cuttings for the summer. Rooted cuttings from an adult plant result in quick harvest - according to the article.

So...for the November garden report: I picked fresh tomatoes on Thanksgiving Day!

~S

Fall Colors Fading

The weekend has brought rain and wind to our portion of Wisconsin. That means that the colorful leaves on trees in our neighborhood have nearly all fallen to the ground. I thought, however, that I'd share a few more pictures that I took while driving thru Sheboygan a couple weeks ago. As of now, bare trees are dotting the landscape far more as the season marches towards winter. The rain, however, was very welcome.

And speaking of rain!! It did seem strange to have a full blown thunderstorm rumbling and flashing on a northern November night! I can't remember ever experiencing such at this time of year. Lightening flashing in thru my window, rain pounding down in torrents.


Snow and blizzards...that's what I'm accustomed to. Late October (sometimes earlier) is the time when snow begins to fall and blanket the earth....but that was in Western places like Colorado, South Dakota, Montana, Wyoming...... I don't have enough Wisconsin experience to know if this is a strange thing. I'm not "wishing" for snow...although I sure do love using the snow blower to move it off of the sidewalk and driveway. (That's me in this picture - Jan. 05).

I'm quite fascinated with these "warmer" days this time of year. I still have tomato plants growing under plastic tents! I still have Swiss chard, rhubarb, broccoli....happily growing with some under plastic cover and others just fending along in the elements. My desire to have veggies for harvest at Thanksgiving is close to coming true. No "hard freeze" nights in the forecast for this week. So....2 1/2 weeks to go!

S~

Autumn, November & Birthdays

Its autumn! Of course that is an obvious statement, especially for anyone living in the northern part of the USA where the trees have turned the brilliant variety of colors that only combined conifer and deciduous trees can do.

The coming of autumn, however, also means the coming of my birthday. This year my special day fell on a day when I was scheduled to do a presentation at a conference. It meant a day of getting up super early (4:30 a.m.) to travel 150 miles away, do 2 presentations, and then the return drive. It wasn't much of a celebrating kind of day, but it was the wonderful opportunity to give of my knowledge to other teachers within the state.

The original plan for my birthday weekend was a visit from my daughter and her boy friend. I was planning a family dinner - a turkey dinner with all the trimmings at that. However, her car was not road worthy, so she was not able to make the 240 mile journey this weekend. Maybe next weekend.

The wonderful thing about being older is that it seems the birthday greeting/fun moments can last across several days. My colleagues knew I was going to be gone from work, so when I arrived the day before my birthday, there in my office was a bouquet of flowers, a balloon, a card, and a few other thoughtful gifts. The flowers were freshly picked from a garden at college, kept by the professor across the hall from me. She is our provider of bouquets, and this one was beautiful as usual, make of bright yellow mums, purple cosmos, and what ever other flowers were still blooming in early November. Pretty astounding that so many were/are!!

The gifts put me in the mood to share with my students, so I sent one off to buy a cake that we then could eat during night class. Surprisingly, not much was eaten, so I left the rest for the faculty department meeting I would miss while I was gone to the conference. I hope my colleagues enjoyed it.

When I arrived home from my day long journey to the conference, my husband presented me with a card and a Cross pen. He also offered to spend the weekend doing things I would enjoy....so today we had an adventure on (you guessed) the city bus! His very first ever ride on one! We rode it to go run an errand, and then he suggested lunch at a Mexican Restaurant. It was a fun afternoon.

The turkey? Well...it will have to be roasted tomorrow. Once one is thawed, can't put it on hold. I'm glad I chose to thaw a small one...10 lbs maybe. That will be our Sunday meal. Maybe we will find some company to share it with.

S~

Ride the Bus - Tips on the Internet

Riding the bus is now a national story. Today, when looking at my MSN news here on the Internet, the banner advertisement flashed a story that includes tips on how to ride the bus. Since I'm trying to advocate for folks to at least try riding the bus once or twice a week, here's the link to the "how to" article.

With my own busy life that includes working some nights - and thus negating the possibility of riding the city bus - I take a look at where I need to be on each day and then make my decision. On days when I don't have to stay late to teach a class, and when I don't have other work related errands to run in other towns or cities, I ride the bus. This equals any where from one day a week to three days a week. The savings in gas money is marvelous.

Since I live in a small city area, the bus is a very pleasant thing to ride. The folks taking it tend to be older people, or people having disabilities. The morning routes do include many children riding the bus to school - mostly to the parochial schools. Some of the riders are folks on their way to work, or on the way home. I've yet to see a "questionable character" get on to the bus.

I became excited the other day when I discovered that a person can take a bicycle along on the bus. The front of our city bus has a bike carrier. Although it only holds 2 bikes, I've only seen one person take advantage of that perk. I, however, stowed the idea away. I'd like to work on riding my bike farther and farther...and now there is a way to get back if I get pooped out!

I have noticed that the number of riders on our bus have increased. When I first started riding in August, the numbers of folks per trip was very few. Sometimes I was the only one riding - possibly because of the time of day. Lately the buses have been busy with lots of people riding. I've yet to see a completely full bus, but I've not seen an empty bus on the routes that I ride. So...I would agree with the article I linked above that ridership is up.

S~