End of the Season

Every year I get a little sad around this time. Just for a day or so.  Now is the time to say goodbye to my tomato and pepper plants.  The collards, I hope, will over-winter, but the others never make it. Good producers all of them, but more importantly, faithrul companions whom I visited every day for more than a season.  There they were - growing, waving in the breeze, tirelessly giving their all. 

I try to wait until the first frost takes them before I pull them up.  This year, some hung around until mid-November and I've even got one plant in Arlington with tomatoes still on it.  We've had such a warm fall.

Today, I put a big pile of leaves on my garden at Dad's house and said goodbye to all of them.  And wished Dad were there to visit with. Looking at his benches and just wishing he was there, sitting with his ball cap on and of course his Michigan or Ohio State sweatshirt and windbreaker, even on a 70-degree day.  These are the times I miss him most.