Yesterday I spent over two hours cleaning up in the yard and garden - with many more hours to go. I am very behind and can only hope to get as much as possible done before the snow flies. Again, my determination to do better next year is high. Now if I can only maintain this level of determination throughout 2012!

Two days ago I cut up cabbage, salted it and added some brine. With any luck it will turn into sauerkraut over the next 4-6 weeks. Last time I made it, two years ago, it was the best sauerkraut I ever tasted - which isn't very humble of me, but it's true. This year all the cabbage came right from our garden.

This afternoon, I'll make cabbage and potato soup out of the remainder of the cabbage. And later, potato-leek soup is on the agenda! I absolutely LOVE potato soup of any kind.

Sometime soon I need to reflect on this past gardening season and how it went, as well as make some plans and resolutions for better gardening next year. It's amazing to me that our garden was as productive as it was, and that I did as much cooking and canning as I did, given my general level of preoccupation with other things. Maybe I'll post some pictures of canning and results of using what was canned this year. Actually, I'm quite proud of that, and really love seeing the jars of good stuff sitting on the shelves that dear Jim put up for me.