The Perfect Autumn Day

It was a beautiful Autumn day yesterday and I had fun getting some more of the garden cleaned up for winter. I'm putting cardboard down in the aisles and then adding a mulch of straw. This helps with erosion and encourages earthworms to live closer to the surface. They aerate and fertilize the soil. The farmer in me has always liked working with the straw, even back when we had chickens and rabbits in the early 70's.

Dragonflies and bees took advantage of the warmth of the sun and came back to life, although many of them were flying a little slower than usual. One dragonfly flew right by me and it was slow enough that I saw that it had a bug in its mouth.

One lonely frog in the Center Room serenaded me for awhile. Did you know that moths are pollinators, too? They particularly like the sunflowers that are still blooming.

We discovered more big tomatoes ripening on the vines, even though their leaves are drying up and ready to compost. The Sun Gold and Cabernet cherry tomatoes are still in good shape. The little White Grape variety are a late season tomato so they are just now ready for picking. Some of these "late season harvests" are particularly flavorful.


We noticed a lot of raspberries that were ready for picking and had not become moldy. Their flavors were utterly outstanding -- better than in the middle of summer-- and they are still producing new raspberries!!!!!!!!!!

There's a lot of color and perfection in the garden -- like this Dahlia -- even after all of our rain.

It rained last night, so the perfect Autumn Day has passed, at least for awhile. Hopefully, there will be more to come.

Autumn View

Autumn winds and rains have come but there is still a lot of vitality in the garden. Some plants have started to fade away while others seem to be flourishing -- their colors stunningly vibrant and their presence strong and stately in their maturity.

In the next break in the weather, I will start spreading brown cardboard along in the aisles. Then I'll cover it with about 6 inches of straw. This will help with erosion from the winter storms and will make a nice home for the earthworms who will aerate the soil and nourish it with their castings

I am continuing to prune back and take out plants in the individual beds, however it is hard right now because so many of them are still beautiful. I am practicing asking them if they are ready before jumping in and just doing it.

It is important for me to deepen my understanding of what is a happening with the garden during the Autumn and Winter. I tend to forget that even though things are dying back above ground, the Life Force is still very alive below, recharging the garden and making it stronger than ever before. Including this awareness in my consciousness as I prepare the beds for Winter, is an important part of experiencing the garden more fully.