It’s not to early to plan for next year.
Even though fall is perhaps my favorite time of the year, one aspect saddens me: it marks the end of the gardening season.
I lovingly tend to various plants in my garden for almost six months each year. In my raised bed gardens, I cultivate tomatoes, Chinese eggplant, Chinese long beans, Chinese bitter melon, and a variety of hot peppers. My husband is Malaysian-Chinese and does most of the cooking, if you’re wondering why I grow so many Asian vegetables.
In another section of my garden, I tend to bonsai plants. I have tropical bonsai, which I let soak up the summer sun until the weather gets colder, and then move inside. I also have several native trees I am hopefully turning into bonsai trees, which stay outside but are sheltered from the icy winds of our rather harsh winters here in Western New York.
Usually, the weather is crisp and fall-like at this time of year, but this year is different. The temperature is in the 70s Fahrenheit. Some plants appear not quite ready to give up on the growing season, so pulling them out of their comfortable bed is sad.
The worst part of dismantling the garden is pulling away the vines of the beans and melons from the trellises in which they have been intertwined. I did manage to find a few melons I had missed while picking what I had thought was the last of the crop.
Before pulling the hot pepper plants, I harvested a couple of pounds of the hot little devils. I also found about five Chinese eggplants I hadn’t seen before. After a couple of hot, sweaty hours, I finished everything. It looks so bare now! Soon, everything will be covered with snow.
We have frozen many bags of hot peppers and long beans, which we will use all winter, saving us from purchasing them from the grocery store. I will, however, miss not eating bitter melon and eggplant until next year, as they don’t freeze well.
I will now have six months to plan my garden for next year. I will likely plant the same things, but I can always research what other plants will thrive in my gardens. While I wait until next spring, I’ll relax and do a lot of reading and writing. Does anyone else enjoy gardening or tending to houseplants? Please share your interests.
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