All tucked in

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!

It's been a week now since the snow arrived, and it looks like it's here to stay. But I don't mind -- harvest is in our freezer, our soil is all tucked in under an abundance of autumn leaves and white moisture, and the leaf bin is full for next year's composting and mulching efforts (thanks to the donations of several neighbours).

After a busy season of growth and diminishment, it's time for soil and soul to rejuvenate.