Tuesday, October 31, 2006

Procrastination in the Garden

I never get the garden completely put to bed before winter comes and I don't think this year will be any exception. I have pulled up most of my plants and I cut the canes off on the fall raspberries and I dug up the potato patch again to search for missed potatoes (and found some), but not all is put to sleep yet.

I still have Brussells Sprouts and a lone lettuce plant growing in the garden. The frost hasn't killed them yet so I let them be - it would be nice to be able to harvest another meal from each. Realistically based on the past, I know that isn't probably going to happen - but I really hate to see the growing season totally end, so each year I procranstinate and end up with something left in the ground under the snow.

I could blame my procrastination on the fact that it isn't as much fun getting out in the fall as it is in the spring - the weather is getting colder instead of warmer and the days are shorter - but I enjoy the fall weather and love watching my child jump in the leaves that we piled at the end of his fort.
I could blame my procrastination on the fact that I am too busy preserving the bounty of my harvest, making jams and jellies and processing pumpkins and tomatoes - but I do that pretty much all season long - not really an excuse.
I could blame my procrastination on the fact that I am just too damn busy. With working full-time and now that school is started, there is homework to supervise every night and two months out I have already started planning Andy's birthday party - but the fact is I make time for the garden when I want to.
I suppose I could even blame my procrastination on the fact that the season was long and I am just tired of gardening - or don't like that part of gardening.

But none of that is true - it is just that part of me hopes that the weather will stay nice a little longer and I can garden a little longer. I think part of me hopes that by not fully putting the garden to sleep for the winter I can stall winter's coming - maybe even delay it indefintely.

Part of me is still a child that believes in magic - after all I experience it every spring when the world comes back to life.

2 comments:

Colleen Vanderlinden said...

Part of me hates seeing the season end, too. I felt more than a little melancholy the other day when I was putting my trowel into the shed, knowing it would be the last time I'd use it until spring.

On the other hand, part of me loves this part of the year because it's like finishing one great chapter of a book, and practically dying in anticipation to see what happens in the next chapter.

Happy gardening, and hopefully you'll get to harvest those sprouts and lettuce :-)

Anonymous said...

i still have a ton of work to do in my garden too . . . do you think it will wait 'til spring?
It'll have too.
Nice blog.