Beware the Ides of August...

It's mid-August in Southern Wisconsin.  The sweet corn is done.  And, as a bonus, this year we didn't have to share any with deer or raccoons or skunks!  We've done a pretty good job keeping up with the produce that we're producing.  The flowers are flowering, and the weeds are less out of control than usual.

Around this time I've heard that organized gardeners are planting some things as fall crops.  Carrots, peas, kohlrabi, spinach, salad mix... It seems like a really good idea.  Unfortunately, by the time mid-August comes around there isn't too much gas left in the gardening tank.

In my dreams, not only do we have some nice second-planting to harvest in early-October, but also all the beds will have been cleaned up, supplemented with composts and manure, and ready for spring.

Over the years my work and travel schedule have wrecked havoc with fall gardening plans.  That and watching television and doing things that are not gardening related.

The problem with this current pandemic is that there aren't really any excuses to hide behind.  There is no good reason not to end the gardening year with distinction.  Just lots of bad reasons, like not feeling like going back out into the garden again.

Part of the problem is that to me gardening is a hobby and a means to grow food and flowers.  It isn't an obsession.  To be honest, the time I really crave working in the garden is when it is covered with snow.

Isn't that the way it goes?  We want the things we can't have at the moment, and then once we have them they are less fascinating.  The first weed pulled in the spring is a sign of hope and is very satisfying.  The ten-thousandth weed pulled in August is just a weed.

I'm going to try to stay the course and finish this gardening season with at least a modicum of resolve.  There will not be corn stalks in their rows all winter.  I will mark where the various perennial flowers are.  I will burn the weed seeds before they plant themselves... or at least those that haven't already done so.

It does my heart good to drive past a community garden to see the beautiful and productive garden plots, but also to see the disasters covered in weeds the size of a house.  No garden is ever perfect, and it is nice to know that I'm not the only one who is occasionally overwhelmed.  

This year I'm just whelmed.


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I am an introvert who seeks recognition, but only a little bit. I live in Southern Wisconsin and yes, I do enjoy cheese and a half-dozen or so beers each year. Somehow I found someone willing to marry me back in 1976, and so far so good. We have children and grandchildren and they are all really something.

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