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Greetings, and welcome to the new subscribers!
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My garden is finally toast! On October 18, it was about 22º in the garden. A hard frost is when temps are below 28º for more than four hours. It was 40º at 10pm the night before then dropped to almost freezing by midnight. It went down quickly from there and stayed there. End. Of. Garden.
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The Grand Finale of the 2025 Garden
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On Insta, I posted Sunny Sunday on October 13 with pics of gorgeous colorful flowers on a sun shiney morning. The very next post is friday's killing frost with pics of sad brown flowers accompanied by mournful cello music by Yo Yo Ma.
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Usually the garden gets killed off slowly with cooler and cooler temps starting in September. I did get a light frost on September 24, but it hit just a few zinnias at the edge of one bed and nothing else. That time of year, you're waiting for the killing frost, prepared to harvest and cover on a moment's notice.
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Instead of frost, though, we watched the generous rains give life to weeds that were pretty dormant during the summer. I have a LOT of white mallow to dig up come spring!
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I enjoyed my beautiful gardens for weeks. No frost, just rain, sunshine, and shorts weather. Then WHAM! In one night, most everything was gone. No gradual die-off this year! All of a sudden, there was no watering to do, no harvesting, no nothing! But thankfully it's been warm enough to dawdle with yard clean-up and do some very late planting.
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I do have one die-hard plant still flowering, though. A perennial scabiosa I planted out front by the kitchen door about 20 years ago is still putting out flowers and buds.
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Scabiosa Saturday morning, November 8
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This is one of the hardiest plants I have. No matter the weather, it produces. In 2018, that insanely dry year when the humidity was 4%, the foliage was low to the ground, and it produced ONE tiny flower about 1/2" across on a stem an inch above the leaves. I'm curious to see when it's finally cold enough for it to die back.
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Another hardy plant is the annual flower, Stock. It has survived down to 22º, colder than Cosmos will tolerate, which usually dies out at 26º.
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It's still warm. That may change this week, but enjoy it. The new weather pattern seems to be a long warm fall only to have winter linger far into spring. We never know. Just enjoy it all!
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Beat-the-Rush Holiday Sale
I haven't done a plant sale or market since last April, so I'm closing out the year with the Beat-the-Rush Holiday Sale, November 15 from 10-2 at my house, 10 Myriah Rd, El Prado. Four of us have pooled our crafts! I have succulents and jade plants, perennial salvias, greeting cards, collage artwork, t-shirts, Renee's Garden Scatter Cans, The New Book, and The Write Shit Down Garden Journal.
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Iris Herbal will be here with salves and oils. My friend, Joy, will have crocheted and knitted hats n things, and my friend, Jane, will have felted items.
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Get your capitalistic consumerism on, and come shop with us!
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Kalanchoe, sedums, and Princess Pine. A few offerings.
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New greeting card design.
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Crocheted and knitted hats and mittens by Joy.
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THE NEW BOOK!
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You can order The New Book directly from UNM Press or shop at Crone & Crow, Moxie, Earthgoods, Gutiz, and op.cit. Books. Hit me up if you need a signed copy for yourself or shipped out for the holidays. Thank you!
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The New Book was a finalist/runner up in the 2025 New Mexico Book Awards in the Cookbook / Gardening / Crafts / Hobby / Home category! That's quite an honor! The full list of winners and finalists can be found here: https://nmwriters.org/nm-book-awards/
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Substack
I started a Substack called Backstories and Brain Chatter. I'm posting essays, not garden how-to, although that might get thrown in since gardening is what I know best! Subscribe to find out where it goes. I've opened up paid subscriptions for $8/month or $80/year, because a dear friend wanted to support my work. There is no paywall, though. All content is available to everyone. Think of a paid subscription as Buy Me a Coffee. I appreciate it!
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This month's brain chatter is Virginia Woolf and Seed Cleaning. I had to edit out a good bit of my train of thought, because it was all over the place, but you might see those ideas later!
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Cannellini beans threshed, winnowed, and put away for later.
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Holiday Eats
I love Thanksgiving because of all the delicious autumn foods and that you can eat as much as you want guilt-free. I don't love what the holiday symbolizes and especially that the truth has been blurred.
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Enjoy your Thanksgiving, but remember whose land you're on. Eat humbly and gratefully. I hope you have lots of your garden harvest to eat and share!
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