Changing Seasons in the Garden

This morning we visited Roanoke Park, a sliver of a playground between two roads in a quiet neighborhood. At one point my son Scooby exclaimed, “The leaves are falling!” We have been referencing the coming fall often, and if the seasons were left up to him, we’d skip right to winter and snow.

It has been a long summer. I’m not sure what made it such. It could have been all the days that were pushing the 100 degree mark that sent this pool-loving family to hide in their air conditioned home, and it could be that mid-September is still warm and muggy. But I am ready for fall. We are just now able to enjoy our time outside again, and gardening no longer leads to profuse sweating while watering the plants. It’s strange that just as desperate as I was for summer to come, I am desperate for it to leave.

The biggest change in our garden is the focus shifts from fleshy fruits and vegetables to peas, leaf and root crops. The spinach is just beginning to sprout and the Black Seeded Simpson is showing some curly leaves. Here’s a list of what is in the ground:

Choys (Bok, Pak, Joi)
Chinese Cabbage
Spinach
Chard
Radishes
Garlic
Basil
Kale
Mesclun Mix
Baby Butterhead Lettuce
Beets (these germinated then died)
Carrots (very few germinated for us)
Peas
Sweet potatoes
Broccoli

Some leftover summer crops are still producing:

Green Beans
Okra
Eggplant
Chery Tomatoes
Striped Roma Tomatoes
Adirondack Blue Potatoes