A pinch and a punch for the first of the month and no returnsies. (Such a strange tradition!) But here we are celebrating the start of a new season. As much as I can’t believe we have arrived at March already having lived through the first two months of this year that still feels quite new.
My pumpkins are way ahead of me and are ready to be harvested now! I couldn’t bring myself to do it while it was technically still summer!
Ordinarily I would be bemoaning the fact that it is too soon for the end of summer, and I’d stretch it out by calling the official end on the equinox in three weeks’ time and hoping for an Indian Summer, but this summer has left me ever so slightly traumatised and totally disappointed. It was not a good one. I am pleased we are in autumn where the occasional burst of bad weather is accepted as normal as we make our slow descent into winter. It is ok to begin to pull out the poorly plants in the garden and freshen things up for the new season ahead.
Sadly this is the best of my original tomato plants and the change of seasons gives me permission to put it out of its misery and let it go.
It almost feels like the garden can breathe again, no longer burdened with plants it hasn’t been able to adequately support. And there is something cathartic in allowing myself to give up on struggling plants and remove them from the garden. With the absence of the brown, and crispy leaved plants, contorted by the wind, the garden is returned to a blank canvas, bursting with the hope and expectation of the new season.
I guess my honeydew melons are finished… I just need to harvest them all and clear up the mess.
There isn’t as much to grow over the winter and things are generally shorter and grow a lot slower but are much better suited to adverse conditions. From my rich bare soil will come a green verdant effect that will bring a much needed optimism and at the same time a sense of peace. And I need that right now.
As always, a seed tray bursting in to life brings with it a renewed sense of ‘everything will be ok.’
As much as I normally fight against the passing of time, just this once I’m ok with it. Welcome to Autumn. At this time of year, the garden can be a place of peace, joy, solace and healing. Everything is going to be ok.
Come again soon – I’ve got some sharing to do – one cabbage at a time.
Sarah the Gardener : o)
SARAH THE GARDENER 
So agree with you about ‘summer’. And for those of us surrounded by devastation, we definitely need some garden therapy. Here in Wairoa, Hawkes Bay, it’s a sorry picture – and even though my garden came through fine, many didn’t. And many homes didn’t. I think we’re all feeling traumatised. We’ve had more rain since the cyclone than the cyclone brought and more damage and more flooding. Not quite sure how everyone is going to recover, around the North Island. Except that we do have an amazing community with lots of support. Let’s hope this is a blip in our weather patterns. This whole last year has been a wet one – not sure I have the heart to try growing garlic again 🙂 I feel heartened to read your posts.
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Gosh I’m pleased your garden survived. but there is so much devastation it is heartbreaking. I certainly hope it is a blip – I’m not sure how much more we can take. I generally push on regardless – my garlic gets rust every season but I find if I start an early variety in April it gets a bit of a head start before it gets attacked so there is a better chance of a harvest. : o)
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Autumn at last! I’m torn between a longing for cooler days and the possibly futile wish that my garden should produce at least some tomatoes this season! The first set of seed didn’t grow, and the second has only just started to flower. The third, planted some time later in a container in a fit of desperation, is already fruiting. But will it ripen??
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It is super frustrating when things take ages to get going. If it is healthy the plant should keep going until the first frost, but as it is in a container, maybe you could bring it indoors to a warm sunny spot when the temperatures start to dip. I hope you get ha harvest – mine can best be described as meagre. : o)
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Well, I hope that this last autumn wears itself out before it gets there. It was a doozy!
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Absolutely – we certainly don’t need any more doozies! : o)
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