Tide turning

Here we are in mid-September, and I feel like the onset of Fall has taken me by surprise. I don't know if this is a result of a failing brain, or just this particular season. Memorial Day, July 4th and Labor Day all took me by surprise. "So soon?" But yes. I assume that linear time is still running as always, so the suspect variable is me. 

Today I harvested the last orange to red tomatoes, and pulled the plants. The lightest orange ones will likely be a bit mealy, but they'll be fine for canning; great in soup this winter. Regrettably, I had to compost a substantial number of Sweet100 cherry tomatoes. They were red, ripe and tasty, but split upon picking. I harvested a few that didn't split, but resigned myself to letting the turkeys, chipmunks and squirrels have the rest of them via our compost pile. 

I didn't lead with this image of the tomato plants, because they look so sad. It was time to remove them, in spite of the fact that the first frost is likely at least a month off. 

Removing the plants is a hard job. It is both physically trying and tedious. The tedious part comes from removing all of the string that that held up my lovely wall of fruit and leaves. Some of the string can be re-used, so I wind it into a ball, making me think of the world's largest ball of string tourist feature that is somewhere in the mid-west. I never have stopped to see it in our forays across the country.

The string that has gotten weakened by years of use and/or weather is tossed. Thrown away. Not my usual M.O. Good twine will last for years, though it gets a number of knots in it from the process of reclaiming it. My friend, the square knot, keeps it functioning just fine through the years, though.

The Joan J raspberries are really starting to come in. I am embarrassed by the state of the raspberry planting, though. Some frightened turkeys ran through it early in the summer, and the canes are disheveled and sad looking. Still. The little patch soldiers on, and I'll have plenty of fruit for jam. Apples should be in soon, and then the saucing of both apples and pears will begin. As always, a part of me is trying to savor this beautiful Fall as much as possible, but part of me will be glad to close up the garden for the season.