It’s been a quiet week in the garden except for the sound of rain. Snow and ice are a faint memory washed out by mild temperatures and rain, rain rain.

Our winter storm lived up to all the predictions. After a modest amount of snow and several days in the 20s, the next incoming storm brought traffic-snarling, plant-coating ice precipitation.

It was undoubtedly a windy and cold weekend. Fortunately, we had plenty of notice to prepare the garden for the Arctic Blast! Appearances are deceiving. It was 15 degrees with wind chill, making it 10 degrees on Saturday morning. Brrr!

We spotted this unusual coloration on the underside of a Swiss chard leaf this week. The topside of the leaf had even brighter color contrasts with the central veins neon yellow, outlined in bright green and surrounded by reddish purple. It is striking, to say the least.

It’s time to reflect on the past season to inform decisions for the next season. So many decisions need to take place away from the siren call of seed catalogs.

These are calendula flowers that are still blooming! The Allison Spa uses these after we dehydrate them. About every 10 days, we have enough to harvest.

This time of year produces lovely sunrises, especially when viewed through a hand-crafted wreath.

The cauliflower continues to be excellent despite the temperatures dropping into the high 20s. We harvested the first of the romanesco (pointy heads) and the first of the Purple of Sicily.

The weather has been kind to the garden this autumn, which allows for fantastic growth. We have sorrel leaves until we have a solid freeze. In the meantime, the red-veined sorrel is a striking addition to the garden.

The cauliflower harvest continues. The purple variety is finished, and we are starting on the white variety. We still have a few heads of the orange, plus more types to come.