Time to start putting the garden to bed

It has been a good gardening year, in spite of a late start and almost no rain all summer. The green beans have outdone themselves, and now I'm letting them slow down and produce seeds. The cabbage was a bit disappointing compared to most years, and while the planted tomatoes were pathetic, the volunteers coming out of the composter were incredibly productive. Cherry tomatoes the size of golf balls, and hundreds of them! Just goes to show you the value of compost. 

I have potatoes and spaghetti squash stored in the basement, peas in the freezer, and I have a couple of bottles of dehydrated/powdered mizuna, lamb's quarters, and beet greens. The kale struggled in the heat this year, but the onions were happy. The carrots are still to be harvested. I've told you my garlic woes (ended up purchasing some from a garlic farmer friend), and the zucchini were yummy but sparse. The cauliflower never formed, but they never do, but I keep planting it optimistically. The raspberries and strawberries really shone this year, but the asparagus wasn't much to brag about. And more rhubarb and lettuce than I knew what to do with. The good-old reliable dry beans did well as usual. Finally, the cucumbers were amazing and kept us well fed, and the peppers produced one (1) blossom which amounted to nothing.

So, yeah, it was a weird year. Lots of ups and downs. Some things that usually flourish produced zilch, and other things that are usually ho-hum were amazing. I'm letting things go to seed now, winding down and starting to empty the beds in preparation for mulch for the winter. Need to clean and oil my tools and organize the shed. Need to try to locate matching pairs of gloves (I always seem to end up with a dozen left-handed gloves and no rights). Time to trim back the lavender. I've planted red clover in one bed to try to break up the soil a bit and add some humus. I've also scattered some milkweed and coneflower seed for next year's butterflies. I need to focus on digging in compost, as I've seen the good results that come from that.

While I'm putting it all away for the winter, I'm watching the descent of the dark earlier and earlier, and I'm thinking up strategies to mitigate the seasonal affective disorder depression that inevitably follows. I have stacks of books to look forward to (thank you, Sheri!), and I had a long talk with my weaving instructor about projects for this fall. I have all this lovely stored garden produce to look forward to eating. I have fake sunlight grow-lights in the kitchen and near my work space in the dining room.

Still, it's hard to let go of the real sunshine. It has been amazing this long, hot summer.