Winter rises

Winter is asserting itself at sillydoggarden. It turned cold this week -- not unreasonably so but after a mild November these days with highs in the teens are a little hard to get used to. And there is the snow. It's not much but even a thin layer of white is a dramatic change from the quiet buffs and browns and greens of the past few weeks.

Fortunately, we were mostly ready.

The last of the parsnips (a variety called 'Gladiator') were harvested from the vegetable garden earlier this week and taken to the stream for a quick wash to remove the big chunks of soil. Our vegetable gardening season opened with a parsnip harvest and ended with a parsnip harvest. The circle is complete.

Brian finished caging the trees and shrubs that are especially susceptible to winter browsing. The yard is dotted with these contraptions of wire fencing and bamboo.

The 'Skyrocket' junipers at the herb garden entrance are wrapped in burlap to guard against sunscald.

This bird feeder will need to be filled almost daily. (We go through lots of sunflower seeds.)

Fresh snow means it's easy to see who's been out and about overnight.

And the sillydog seizes the day, savoring the flavor of winter.