First frost and jobs before Thanksgiving

First snow from the patio door, Nov 2025

Like last November, we got both our first frost and snow this past week, though the snow thankfully didn't last long (a few hours).  A few days later I went out and dug up my two dahlias and trimmed off their frost-blackened stems;  the same day I also went to get the runner bean tubers (seen to the left next to the wooden fence in the photo above) but as I approached with a shovel, my two ducks refused to leave their "tent."  Every day they've been sleeping under these leaves, in the shelter of the bamboo canes supporting the vines.  I could have booted them out but they looked so happy under there I didn't have the heart to disturb them:  I'll try again soon.

It's been a mix of frost and rain since, and not good weather for gardening.  I made it to the allotment one more time, this time to pick a couple of bolting Chinese cabbages.  We've been enjoying it like pak choi, which it resembles in taste and texture (I still don't know if this variety is meant to form heads or just a bunch of loose leaves like it is now).  I made a small jar of kimchi with it too.

In addition, I had to go out and pull all the remaining Lyon leeks from my kitchen garden, which had flopped over in the cold.  I was only going to pick my usual one a day, but when I touched it I realized it had gone a little mushy--I checked the others and most were in the same condition.  So I spent a cold muddy hour getting them all dug up and washed before going in to work;  the next morning I trimmed and froze most of the long green leaves, putting the white stalks in a few bags in my fridge.  I expect I'll still get a month's worth of meals of these stalks before moving on to my cold tolerant Musselbrugh leeks still growing at the allotment.  Recall that I have no more onions and per the terms of my Vegetable Challenge, while I'm allowed, I'm trying not to buy them;  leeks are my onion substitute for now.

It's Thanksgiving this week!  Our family is American as well as British and it's the favo(u)rite holiday of at least one of us.  As usual, the husband has the day off to do the bulk of the cooking;  we are having three additional guests (an adult and two big teenagers)--and we are in the midst of the Vegetable Challenge!  The pumpkin (squash) has been cooked and pureed for pie, the mashed new potatoes only need thawing and reheating (I strategically froze them back in summer, just for this meal), the other vegetable dish is to be confirmed but there is plenty of choice in the freezer, and still some standing veg in the garden and allotment too.