The part that comes after the beginning

Every year when the basil starts to flower, I pinch the flowers off so the plant keeps making leaves. And every year, what I pinched went straight into the compost.

This year I kept them, and they turned into two jars of vinegar.

Back in the spring, we planted potatoes in two wire towers. This fall, those two towers gave us more than 20 pounds of potatoes.

Neither one happened on the first day. Beginnings are easy, and we're good at them. The good part is what comes after: the tending, the checking back, the staying with it.

That's true in a garden, and it's true in a life. Whatever you started this year, it's not too late to keep tending it. And before the first frost, take a walk and notice what's still here. Some of the best things this season are the ones we almost tossed.

Jules & Lane

Lane and Jules Morris in a sunlit fall field

Out in the Garden

Before the first frost: what to do now, and what can wait

Jules Morris harvesting peppers in the fall garden, holding a bundle of kale and orange marigolds

Frost comes at a different time for everyone, so this checklist runs on your first frost date, not a date on the calendar.

Before it comes: harvest anything tender, save the seeds and flowers you'd normally toss, plant garlic, and sow a cover crop.

After it comes: dig the dahlias, clean up the beds (but not all of them), and feed the compost pile. Once the ground is cold, mulch your perennials and bring the hoses in.

Everything else can wait until spring. There's a printable version, too.

Get the fall checklist

From the Farm Kitchen

Basil flower vinegar

Pinching basil flowers keeps the plant making leaves. But the flowers and tender tops taste like a softer version of the leaves, so they're too good for the compost.

Pack them loosely into a clean jar, cover them completely with vinegar, and let the jar sit out of the sun for one to two weeks. Strain it, bottle it, and keep it in the fridge.

I made two. Thai basil in rice vinegar is made for cucumber salad and quick pickled onions. Sweet basil in apple cider vinegar is made for tomatoes and vinaigrette.

Make basil flower vinegar

Curated Corner

A pumpkin full of what's still blooming

Fall flower arrangement in a pumpkin vase with a red dahlia, purple gomphrena, dogwood branches, hydrangea and greenery

This arrangement is from last fall. It started with a single dahlia, one of the last still blooming and an absolute showstopper.

From there I wandered the farm and gathered whatever was still vibrant: a few dogwood branches, bits of greenery, and a burst of hot pink gomphrena that somehow worked perfectly. The vase is a pumpkin.

You don't need a flower shop for this. Before your first frost, walk your yard and gather what's still here. One good bloom is enough to start.

Watch how it came together

Designing a Flourishing Life

Don't lose a minute

In Sunday's devotional, we looked at 2 Peter 1, where Peter says not to lose a minute building on what you've been given.

It's easy to plant something and walk away. The growth happens in the tending.

What did you start this year that's still worth tending? Pick one, and give it ten minutes this week.

Coming November 1

Farm Sunday, in two books

For years now, we've shared a devotional from the farm every Sunday. We gathered a year of Farm Sunday into each of two books, Steady Ground and Glad in God. They're out November 1 in paperback and Kindle.

See both books