October

I was just thinking back over the month of October. Overall, it seemed fairly mild and yet we had a couple nights of frost, one small earthquake, and Hurricane Sandy (a tropical storm once it reached us). We lost power for two days because of Sandy, but no trees fell and no damage really compared to other storms of the past few years. The Halloween Storm of 2011 caused much more trouble, as did Hurricane Irene. No snowfall yet this season.

We planted our 520 cloves of garlic. Renee at New Roots Farm gave me some extra seedlings of spinach, Swiss chard, and beets. I've planted those under hoops covered with Reemay. I also direct seeded arugula and cilantro. Arugula shoots up almost immediately, so I already have neat rows of this favorite sandwich and salad green.

Fall broccoli finally sported some heads in October, although I have yet to harvest them. My earlier plantings of arugula, Swiss chard, kale, and cilantro still look lush. We harvested something from the garden every day through October and now into November.

Salamanders and snakes and turtles remained active during October. Spring peepers seemed to be everywhere, and yet so difficult to track down. A spotted salamander made an unsuccessful attempt to cross a road in our neighborhood during last week's storm. Painted turtles were basking on logs and garter snakes were sunning themselves on sunlight paths throughout the month. Great blue herons and turkey vultures, both graceful in flight, are still around. In recent years, the vultures have tended to stay through winter as does a local flock of bluebirds.

The National Weather Service says we're moving into a spell of colder weather, with several nights in a row below freezing. It is November and that feels about right.