Fall is here

Fall is here in western Washington. It arrived in all its glory today after summer's last blazing parting shot of the last few days. It was raining this morning (finally!) and the clouds were fabulous- grey, swirling, and very moody!

In a wonderful coincidence, I also had the day off. I spent a few hours outside doing some fall cleanup- not my perennials, but a lot of spent annuals and way too many failing squash and cucumbers with powdery mildew. I also retired one of my Amish Paste tomato plants to the compost bin, since it was looking really sad and had only a few tomatoes left. I kept those, of course, and will let them ripen on my counter. I keep them under the cabinet, pushed back against the wall where it stays darker. I put the hoop house over the tomatoes in bed 4. I checked on my late carrots, parsnips, and arugula, all of which I started under row cover about a month ago. They all seem quite content. And I was so happy, because I harvested more eggplants from my Nadia variety plants. This was the third year I tried to grow eggplant, so I suppose third time is the charm.

Fall garden tasks always make me reflect on how this kind of clearing away is important in any garden... and in life. So much of my fall work is saving what can be saved with season extenders, salvaging what I can from what is dying, and preparing the ground for next spring. I'm in good company, as all the little creatures in my garden are also starting to think about winter. The nuthatches found my gift of sunflowers on the back porch and have almost finished munching all the good seed from the spent heads. I gave them the seeds from the smaller varieties, and kept the seeds from my Maximillion variety plants in two big jars for next spring's planting. They spent about 8 hours in the dehydrator before being put away. If all that seed is viable, I better find some friends with which to share!

This kind of work is valuable as we creatively manage our lives, too. As we grow and change, it's important to let go of what is no longer serving or bringing us delight. Removing what is spent and broken and hurt, and preparing that space for new adventures, discoveries, and hobbies is very healing and much needed. Many of us cruise along on auto-pilot and then wake up to realize our lives no longer reflect who we are and what our priorities are. When this happens, it's time to let go.  Save the wonderful memories, and the lessons we learned.  Those gifts of experience and knowledge will grow in our next chapter. Moving on can be hard, but it's always the right decision when something has become a burden and gets in the way of our true love and delight. We only get one this one life... it's too short for things that hurt us. 

What fall garden tasks are you working on? Be sure to let me know where you're gardening!