Growth and diminishment in the cycle of the seasons never ceases to amaze me. I notice it especially in the garden, where just a few days can make a huge difference.
Now that we have reached the end of this gardening year, I am looking back on things and beginning to think about next year, though I won't get into serious planning until the seed catalogue arrives on the coldest day of January (how does it always manage to do that?) I learned a few things this year... that it's okay to pick barely pink strawberries if I don't want the slugs to get them first, that it's important to tie up Ralph's zucchinili squash or it curls up on the ground and can be mistaken for a snake, that pumpkins work better in full sun, and that I should probably plant half the climbing beans I did last May.
I thought it would be fun to post pictures of our raised bed vegetable garden as it progressed in 2020.
June 3 -- planting is complete, just as it starts to rain!
June 9 -- warmth and growth
Week of July 12 -- I'm walking around every day,
marveling at how quickly things change.
It seems like those fava beans grew 5 cm overnight!
Didn't take any pictures in August!
September 7 -- Harvest has begun,
but the everbearing strawberries keep going
until first frost
September 18 -- Garlic, onions and beans are out,
but there's still a long way to go before snow --
thank goodness for my partner,
who wades in when I start to feel overwhelmed!
September 28 -- spreading and shoveling compost into the beds
October 20 -- Snow arrives...
before I get all the leaves shoveled into the soil!
November 2 -- Thank goodness it doesn't last.
A few warm days and Lee's help saw the leaves dug in
and the beds re-covered with more leaves.
Bare soil is dying soil, and fall garlic needs protection
so it comes up in the spring --
a lesson I once learned the hard way!
After a busy season of growth and diminishment, it's time for soil and soul to rejuvenate.
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