A Harvest of Time and Effort

September 28, 2025

My vegetable garden has reached the state of late season chaos it comes to each fall. Although I am still harvesting tomatoes daily, some vines are yellowing and show signs of disease. Others are growing wildly across the garden, intertwining with late season cucumbers and a solidary eggplant. Soon I will need to pull it all out. It is time to cut the remaining herbs and hang them to dry inside the house. Already I have basil that my husband harvested drying in a tray on top of our refrigerator.

My tiny plot of land on the south side of the house has been productive this year despite the fickle weather. With diligent watering (by Nick) we have had a good crop from both our gardens. Nick has canned a dozen quarts of Roma tomatoes, and he has made marinara sauce with the less pretty ones. We have eaten delicious salads of red and green leaf leaf lettuce, spinach and rainbow Swiss chard. In spring there was a harvest of scrawny, short carrots, but an abundance of robust, spicy radishes. Some of the radishes went into traditional salads and some into a Russian radish/cucumber salad that Anna introduced us to last year. The okra we grew was part of spicy gumbo several times and made an excellent gift for one of Nick’s co-workers. There have been numerous cucumber and tomato salads, caprese salads with fresh buffalo mozzarella and more tomato sandwiches than I could possibly count. These were made with creamy Dukes mayonnaise, black pepper and fresh basil on whole wheat bread. I just can’t do the traditional white bread version anymore!

Perhaps I will pull out the decayed vines, turn over the soil, add more compost and plant some cold crops in the next few weeks? There have been years when ruffled purple kale or spinach thrived through the autumn chill and into the mild Virginia winter. This year I am tired, however, so it may not happen. I feel kind of wilted and past my prime after more than 8 weeks back at work. We will see if my energy comes back in time for a Fall planting.

Despite my general fatigue, I fantasize about garden projects I hope to do when Nick and I retire. I want to pull out the traditional English boxwoods that came with the house and install a cottage garden in the front yard with native plants. Less grass to mow and attracting more pollinators is the goal. If I have the time, gardening in all four seasons appeals to me, perhaps with the addition of cold frames or a small green house I could start plants from seeds and even have flowers growing in the winter!