PATCHY FROST.

This weekend, after a few teasers, we finally got our first frost. And many plants were effectively toasted. But what a season it has been! We could not have asked for a better year here in Bugtussle to get established. It was never very dry, it was never very hot, it was always sort of wet––albeit occasionally too wet––but it has been a near perfect vintage (if one is allowed to apply that term to vegetable farming) throughout.We don't, of course, expect it to last. We expect drought years and floods, heat waves and sudden, unwelcome cold snaps, but in many ways we felt we were shown some true Southern Hospitality this year. And we're extremely thankful for it.Of course, this doesn't mean the season is over necessarily, just the growing season, the tomato season, the peppers, eggplant and summer crop season. With a frost, in fact, comes a lot of sweetness. Carrots will officially become the sweet, odd little roots we all know and love. Kale will lose its lightly bitter edge and replace it with a touch of sugar. Salad turnips will suddenly go from chubby, spicy vegetables to chubby, spicy apples. If someone were to ask me what my favorite time of year is, it wouldn't be as simple as fall or spring, summer or winter. It's right before the first fall frost, and right after. It's right now, amid the sweetening.- Jesse.