We've been doing the last bits of winterizing in the yard this week. We still need to put away the barbeque and I think there is a hose around somewhere but pretty much everything else is done. I've dug out all my carrots and potatoes and I'm amazed at how much food we got from our garden. I don't seem to have a picture of the bowl of carrots but there are a few at least ten inches long and two inches across at the top and lots and lots of medium sized ones. I roasted a panful for the potluck we went to on Sunday night. They are a rainbow variety - ranging from dark orange to white in colour - and look really beautiful cooked and, of course, have that wonderful sweet carrot flavour that is so wonderfully enhanced by roasting.

Digging out the potatoes was so much fun. I waited until the sun was just about to leave that part of the yard so that the soil would be as warm and workable as possible. Pulling out the plants and tossing them on the compost pile was pretty fun all by itself but it was really neat to dig into the soil and turn up all these potatoes. Most of them are on the small side but there are a couple of full size potatoes that surprised me when I saw them. I couldn't make up my mind when it came to choosing which variety to plant in the spring so I've got two different kinds of potatoes: Russian Blues and Red Fingerlings. The Russian Blues are purple all the way through; the Fingerlings have red skin and white flesh. I'm not sure why some of the Blues have developed coppery skins. I'll probably ask my sister about that before we eat them.