season's end

Over breakfast, Ed and I talk about the greater challenges of maintaining the farmette lands. Just the two of us, both in our seventies. We don't accept or buy help from anyone. It's all maintained by Ed and me. So I ask him today -- what if I can't do this much every year? His answer is both simple and predictable: then don't do it. Work as hard as you can for as long as you can.

I agree with him on this. Apart from the fact that it's blasted all over the internet via Ocean, our gardens, our plantings, our lands are so private that no one would notice neglect, in the same way that no one (or at least a minuscule number) sees the beauty of our work (except through the photos I take). If I let go of some of the flower fields, weeds will take over. And so what? Our lives will not be diminished by it. We will do as much as we are able to do. 

And today, that amount is... huge!

The day started off slowly. Ed was sleepy, the sun rose late. No one was in a hurry.

Breakfast-- lovely, gentle, yummy for me.

And then we went out together. I've thought of a new place for daffodils, but we need to build up the soil there. Ed worked on bringing in compost, then wood chips. I weeded. And I mean weeded! Every bed received some of my attention. I'd already done work around most of the flowers, but the peripheries were loaded with every weed imaginable. I attacked those. Bucket after bucket of weeds, piled high. (Ed mows them down and then hauls the shreds to the compost piles.) Most weeds require digging, but the soil is saturated right now so the job isn't impossible.  And I trim down spent flowers, working now on creating that winter garden. Phlox is unattractive when it dries up. So are peonies and indigo plants. Others? It depends. Some monardas can stay to add texture to the landscape. And so I continue, up one field, down another.

(a last gladiolus murielae bloom: white, against autumnal colors, reminding me that I should dig these bulbs out and store them for the winter... )

It's exhausting work, but it's good work!  And we got so much done! Yes, there are still bulbs coming in the mail. And locust pods to rake away. Yes, I'll have to plant them, and rake the beds in the weeks ahead, in colder weather. But if I felt I'd lost a grip on the work just days ago, right now I'm at peace with where we are and what we've done this year. Despite the knee surgery, despite the travel, the Covid, the drought -- we had a beautiful growing season where we learned a lot! The flowers for the most part did well, the fruits -- better than in an average year, with melons, tomatoes, pears and garlic leading the pack in their sheer abundance. We are eager to move forward and begin work on next year's farmette projects.

A quick bike ride to relax the limbs...

(Yes, there are cranes in this pic, but the autumnal field is in its own right beautiful...)

(Don't you think this has to be the utter peak of fall colors?)

In the evening, we build the new couch. It could not be easier! Taking out the old one is the bigger chore, but at long last we have something in place that sits more than two. We cover it as the cats like to sleep on it and the kids like to eat potato chips on it.  There, done! All for $308. Remarkable. 

(Friendly says it's a go!)

Afterwards, Ed dozes, I write. It's so beautifully quiet! Good night, all you planters and growers out there! In camaraderie and love...