Putting the Garden to Bed

Text by Greg
Photos by Trina and Greg

The autumn of the high country has slipped down the slope to find us in the garden. We've been harvesting bright tomatoes and the last of the outdoor herbs. We've gathered the last peppers, greens, eggplant, grapes and apples. Soon the nights will freeze hard, and soon after we'll bring in the last of the root crops.

The hardy greens have been banked with compost and leaf mulch where they may keep feeding us into the early cold weather. But the summer plants have been pulled out and Trina has cleaned out her water gardens -- the water lilies prepared to go dormant in the cold.

There is still work to do. But for the most part, the garden is finished for the season. Tucked away. Put to bed.

Inside the warm house, in jars, in the freezer, as sauces, as pickles, the garden bounty remains to remind us of the warmth of summer in each precious bite.