Out on the trail

Jill Severn portrait

This week started out dismal: Dark skies, rain, wind and chill reigned. It was enough to make a person leave home.

The world was more inviting on a trail through pastures and woods, where trees were turning color, and leaves remained on branches above and on the ground underfoot.

The ground offered lessons in color and leaf identification. Where big leaf maples dominated, there were a hundred shades of orange and brown with yellow highlights. Passing cottonwoods, the trail turned a mellower yellow. And at the one spot where aspen leaves fluttered and fell in their distinctive way, the path was chartreuse.

In between, there were leaves of willow, alder, cascara, cherry and hazelnut trees, all mixed up together, challenging the walker to either keep the pace or stop and examine which leaves have toothed edges, which are smooth and narrow, and which come to a sharp point.

Each year, the leaf ID challenge shows us what we have and have yet to learn. This year, it also reminded me how much variation there is, even among leaves from the same tree.

Another joy to behold is the return of brilliantly green fields, refreshed by rain,  stretching from fence to fence.

Back in the garden . . .

But soon, it was time to come home and cook dinner, which meant a wet visit to the vegetable garden. With frost predicted for this weekend, it was time to pick the last sprigs of fresh basil and to inventory what would and would not survive the kiss of frost. Basil won’t, but there will be plenty of survivors. The cabbage family, for instance, which includes broccoli, cauliflower, kale and collard greens, will be fine. In fact, many people think all these vegetables are actually tastier post-frost.

Root vegetables snuggled into the soil will also survive, even if their green tops die back. For them, rot from wet soil is the greater winter danger.

Swiss chard is on the borderline; it will tolerate a light frost that doesn’t last long. This is an all-star vegetable; it’s super productive over a long season, pretty enough to be included in a flowerbed, and mild and tasty enough to appeal to almost everyone – including those who turn their noses up at kale. It can be included in winter salads, chopped into soups and stews, or chopped and steamed like spinach, in a splash of chicken broth and dressed with a little gorgonzola or blue cheese. There are many other recipes for chard online that include garlic, lemon, walnuts and even olives.

Unfortunately, deer like chard, too. So do chickens, who will happily eat any leaves afflicted with leaf miners or other bad actors. Leaf miners are the larvae of a small, inconspicuous fly, and they do what the name implies: they get between the layers of a leaf and gobble up its insides. Sometimes they leave trails on the leaf; more commonly, they leave whole patches of pale, obvious damage. Chard and spinach seem to be their favorite crops. The best remedy is to cut off affected parts of leaves and either feed them to chickens or put them in the trash, not the compost. Doing this frequently is critical; success is the reward of almost daily vigilance.

And now, cold, sun and snow in the mountains

By the end of the week, we awoke to hard frost, and bright sun, with more leaves on the ground and fewer on the trees – weather even more likely to inspire a walk in the woods rather than a day in the garden.

So I hope your outdoor pipes are wrapped, your tender flowers are protected, and your willpower is sufficient to keep from eating the Halloween candy before the pumpkin is carved.

Jill Severn writes from her home in Olympia, where she grows vegetables, flowers, and a small flock of chickens. She loves conversation among gardeners. Start one by emailing her at  jill@theJOLTnews.com