Harvest in the Ranchos
Through all the gardener’s challenges this year, vegetable gardens in the Ranchos still provided a bountiful harvest. Something to be grateful for. A pleasure to share with neighbors, friends, and colleagues alike.
The satisfaction of watching plants grow coupled with the fruits of our labor gave another joyous summer and fall. When the June 20th freeze hit, I did two things: 1.) I replaced all the plants that looked dead on arrival and 2.) I trimmed all the dead foliage and fruit leaving little green sticks all over my garden. To my surprise, the little sticks – left among the new recruits – came to life and produced far more than I dreamt of.
There were tomatoes sharing areas with new tomatoes. Some looked like trees grafted to bear multiple types of fruit. Sweet sun gold tomatoes growing up the middle of grape tomatoes; Black Krims amid squash and pumpkin plants; lemon cucumbers with sweet baby watermelons.
A cacophony of colors and textures more beautiful than any painter’s palette.
Some of the things I love about gardening are that there’s always something new to learn; something completely surprising; and my favorite – volunteer plants shooting up here and there.
Here’s to a summer well spent and lessons learned for next year’s garden.