Guess what? It’s October–wait for it–I’m in Minnesota, it’s the second week of October, and it was almost 90 degrees yesterday. I know, right? It’s been so nice the past month that my tomatoes are setting new fruit. Yes, you read that right. I’ve got fresh leaves and green tomatoes on my plants. Normally, we’d have had a light frost by now that would’ve killed the plants.
Yesterday was summer. The day before was a super-nice, mid-seventies fall day. Today, less nice, less summer, more blustery fall. Wind, clouds, and an almost-forty-degree temperature drop from yesterday. Gotta love Minnesota weather. Fifties today, and the weather geeks are predicting frost by the weekend. Talk about weather whiplash!
Okay, I have to brag a bit. Remember the jaunt through the garden a couple posts back? I mentioned onions the size of softballs–bet you didn’t believe me, did you? Since it was so nice yesterday, I drafted my daughter to help me pick the onions. I knew we’d have a good haul, but OMG, this is a bit of overkill for a family of four, even if we use onions in just about everything.
See that white ball? It’s a plastic facsimile of a softball (couldn’t find a real softball). I’m not sure weight-wise what we ended up with. We’ll leave them outside on box screens to cure for a while. Usually we’re good with one screen, which is about four feet by seven feet or so. This year, we needed a second screen. The air circulation is important; the onions need to develop a tough skin so they last longer in storage. The past couple years have been lousy for onions–they kept getting washed out by heavy spring/summer rains. This year’s been superb for just about everything. Next on the docket: digging potatoes. I’ll have to wait until the onions have cured for a week or two before digging the potatoes. The potatoes will need to cure as well once they’re out of the ground so the skins will thicken a bit.
“Are you just about done, love?” My Muse is perched on a saw horse my hubby neglected to put away. He’s working the outdoorsman style again, complete with hiking boots, worn jeans, and flannel. “Enough about your prize onions.”
“Hey, I spent a lot of time this summer weeding these.”
“I know it.” He stands, hands hanging by his thumbs from his front pockets, and shakes his head. “You need to reset your focus. Shift from summer to winter.”
“Don’t say the ‘w’ word,” I grumble. “You know I’ve still got stuff to do in the garden. I’ve got to pull out the soaker hoses, collect the stakes, take down the fence, finish harvesting. Hell, I’m still picking raspberries.”
“And NaNo starts in a couple weeks. You need to start focusing.”
“I did start. I got through the second chapter revision.”
“And you’ve got how many more to go? You can’t just start in November, love. You’ve got to get your ass in gear if you want to have a polished, query-ready novel by spring.”
“I know. How come you’re not busting my chops?”
He lays an arm around my shoulders. He smells like hot cocoa and fireplace smoke. “I’m saving up. I know you’ve got garden work left, so until the first frost, you’ll be distracted. But if there’s another day like today–cloudy and blustery–before then, you’re going to sit your ass down and push forward on the revisions. Got it?”
“Yeah, I got it. You know, you’re making me crave hot chocolate.”
His scent shifts from cocoa to onion. I push him away. “Gak. Seriously?”
He chuckles. “Be glad I didn’t pick cooking Brussels sprouts.”
Ugh. I love to eat them, but they smell worse than broccoli when cooking. He’s messing with me.
Enjoy the remaining days of colored leaves. This year’s been absolutely beautiful. I’ll try to catch a few of the spectacular colors in the next few days and share them with you.
Two weeks left to prep for NaNo. Are you ready?
October 13, 2015 at 8:38 am
Wow! I’m seriously impressed with the size (and quantity) of those onions. What a haul! And harvesting them sounds like the perfect way to say goodbye to summer. We are in low 70s right now, but it’s a rainy autumn-like day. I do my best writing when it’s rainy (your muse would be happy, LOL). Glad he’s getting you ready for NaNoWriMo. I’m going to attempt to do an unofficial NaNo on my current WIP when I get back from vacation in November. I’ll keep my fingers crossed for both of us!
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October 13, 2015 at 8:42 am
I love writing when it’s rainy, too. There’s something about the sound, I think. I even have a thunderstorm track I listen to when I write. It’s cloudy, rainy, and in the fifties here, and I’m stuck writing tech documents at work. I’m sure my Muse is coming up with some “encouragement” for NaNo. Not sure if I’m looking forward to that or not 😉
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October 13, 2015 at 10:04 am
I showed my husband the photos of your wheelbarrow full of onions and he said, “Show off!” Ha ha. All in fun, we’re jealous. Nothing like caramelized onions. I’d eat them on icecream if I could. I’m signed up for NaNoWriMo too, first time. Looking forward to the pressure to produce! 😀
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October 13, 2015 at 10:10 am
LOL! My hubby makes a mean French onion soup. Just wait until I dig the potatoes. I’m actually kinda scared at how many I might find. I’ve already dug up about half a dozen plants, and found potatoes twice as big as my fist. I’ll be your NaNo writing buddy–my username is Aislinge. I’ll cheer you on!
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October 13, 2015 at 10:24 am
I need to explore the Nano site a little more to see how it all works (I need Nano for dummys). Glad to buddy up. 🙂
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October 13, 2015 at 10:32 am
My husband’s going out to get the ingredients for French onion soup! See what you started. Yum.
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October 13, 2015 at 10:43 am
LOL!
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October 22, 2015 at 8:16 am
Hi Julie. I tried your username and can’t get anything to come up. Would you mind trying mine? D. Wallace Peach
Thanks so much. The site says its hard to find people and they aren’t kidding!
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October 22, 2015 at 8:46 am
I’ve been trying for a week to find you and another writer. I sent in a help request, and it sounds like their search is messed up and they haven’t fixed it yet.
I searched for and found you. You should be able to find me on your Buddy of list.
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