After Season

Every growing season is different; that's for sure.

Last year at this time the corn and soybean farmers in our neighborhood in Southern Wisconsin couldn't get into their fields to harvest.  This year it seems like almost everything is picked and in the bins.

We have had a normal number of frosts at our place for mid-November, but we've had a lot of nice days too, and by covering up some of the remaining plantings, we've managed to have a pretty good post-harvest harvest.

The cabbages we picked a month or more ago sprouted little baby cabbages (not Brussels sprouts) that are nice and tender.  Our Swiss chard, which was cut to the ground, has kept sprouting new leaves, which are nice enough to use in a salad.

We've had a few other surprises.  A couple of months ago I posted a photo of a disaster cauliflower in this space.  Little did we know that there were some beautiful cauliflower heads hiding in a couple of plants we had ignored.

I'm glad to have these bonuses, especially since some seasons end so soon that some of the plants never really mature.  When we lived in Duluth, Minnesota, sweetcorn and tomatoes were both iffy.  

There's still a lot to do to clean up the garden for winter, but the cool temperatures and 40mph winds today were a big disincentive to crawling around in the dirt.

I'm glad we have the space and the time to have a garden.  It feels good to eat food that we've grown, and the time spent in the garden is probably what has kept me sane this year, assuming that I am.

I have a list of things to do differently in the garden next year, and it will be hard to wait to implement them, but I guess that's what makes spring so invigorating in this part of the country.


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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