September Garden

Oh, the September garden...so bountiful at the beginning of the month and so brown and barren at the end. Living in the Northeast, we are usually hit by our frost in September. Sometimes, though, we are fortunate, and the first frost holds off until October.  Not so this year.   I always watch for the full moon because many times a frost will accompany the full moon, and when this month's full moon came and went with no frost, I had hoped that we might be blessed with a longer growing season. Well, autumn was in a hurry this year, and a few days after the full moon, we not only had our first frost, but we woke up to three frosty mornings.  In preparation for the freezing temperatures, we harvested everything that would be affected by the frost...squash (acorn, butternut, buttercup, spaghetti and blue Hubbard), the last remaining zucchinis, corn, a few late plantings of lettuce, peppers (oh, they needed more growing time), tomatoes, cabbage and grapes.  We did leave the potatoes and beets for digging later, and the kale and Brussels sprouts always taste better after being nipped by frost. Within the next few days, we will start cleaning out the gardens and begin preparing the soil for next spring.  I'm always sad to see the garden come to an end and wish that the weather here in the Northeast would allow us a longer growing season, but I am thankful for what we did harvest and for the bounties put away in the freezers and pantry.