Keeping Any Vampires At Bay

I dragged my sorry butt back into the garden on Saturday and got the greenhouse finished up for winter:

The tomato cages are stacked at the back, then the deck pots and my rosemary pot. I even planted some seeds (mache, arugula, mizuna, tah tsai, baby bok choi and lettuce) in hopes that something might grow big enough to withstand the inevitable frost. You never know. There’s still space to put the water garden when we decide to pack it away. There’s still some very healthy water plants in it so it gets to stay on the upper deck for now.

I also got a bed prepared and the garlic planted. This year’s cloves are huge and delicious:

Seems a shame to sacrifice 4 precious heads’ worth to the garden but garlic is a clone. It only grows from bulbs and never produces seeds. It also adapts to your garden until you have your very own variety, subtly different from anybody else’s. I’ve had these for 6 or 7 years now and got the originals from the Farmers Market. I also tried a soft-neck variety but didn’t like it as much. I love the yummy scapes you get on the hard-necks! And the much bigger cloves. Though they have a reputation for not storing well, if they’re cured and stored properly they seem to keep well enough to be all eaten before anything adverse happens to them. Here they are ready to be tucked in for winter:

(They’re in little trenches but why do my eyes keep wanting to reverse that as mounds in this photo? Must be the shadows playing tricks.) This must be a record for the earliest I’ve managed to get the garlic in. Usually it’s more like November before it happens.

Sunday was lovely and even warmer (20C!) but I decided I was too tired to garden. The critical stuff is done and the rest can just wait until I get to it. There’s still a bunch of cleanup and more fall rye to plant as a cover crop in the bare garden spots. There’s still a few weeks before any frost can be expected. Sometimes it even waits until nearly December but I have a feeling that this is going to be an early winter. Though in defiance of my prediction the leaves are only just now starting to turn colour. I love this season! It’s way too short.

Back to the knitting. Here’s the next instalment:

Darkness Slouch Hat

For: me

Begun: August 12, 2013
Completed: August 19, 2013

Yarn: Schoeller+Stahl Fortissima Socka Color, 75% wool/25% nylon, colour 122 overdyed by me to dark burgundy/black, 420m=100g, used 60g, leftovers from my Abotanicity Tunic Sweater

Needles: Aero 16” circular, Clover Takumi bamboo dpns, 3mm.

Pattern: Sockhead hat by Kelly McClure, free Ravelry download

Mods: Made the main section of the hat 7.5” long which is a little shorter than pattern. I like this length better.

Comments: This is the second time I’ve made this hat pattern because I really like it. It’s easy and quick to make. Perfect for knitting on the road. It got cold one morning while we were camping so T borrowed my finished hat. Now I have to make him one!

I was going to do another one but T just had the great idea to go for a walk downtown and go to a movie. It’s sunny currently (supposed to be raining) so I’m not going to argue with a good idea. More anon!