It’s that time of year again. The winding down of the vegetable garden. I always feel a mix of emotions including relief, sadness, satisfaction and exhaustion. The cycles of nature are tracked through the work of a gardener. The fall brings a sense of transition with hot weather plants browning and struggling to eek out a few more red tomatoes and healthy peppers.  It also brings out the gardener’s lowering energy levels that come with shorter days and the preceding six months seemingly non-stop activity of planting, harvesting, canning and freezing. Then the cool weather plants of swiss chard and kale are growing at a moderate pace calling the gardener to keep moving. For reasons that are beyond my understanding, my fall lettuce planting was a big bust. Two times up planting seeds, two times I struck out. A few beets are keeping up but the rest of the seeds that I planted are a no show.

So all in all, my fall planting crop is a mixed bag. But I am too tired to worry about it. I’m in that space between memories of spring/summer energy that gets me through cleaning up the garden to visions of winter hibernation on the horizon. As my own leaves turn a lovely hue of orange, I’m being called to curl up with a good book, and well, read about gardening instead of doing it.

The Community Garden plot before the grand clean up

The Community Garden Plot cleaned up. Getting ready for the cold frame installation.

Calvin returning from the Community Garden Plot on his bicycle

A straggler eggplant

Calvin and me outside the Community Garden

The final tomato harvest. Now what to do with all the green tomatoes…….