As soon as the first leaf turns yellow, it is autumn, but as soon as the first snow falls, even if it is in September, it is winter in our hearts and souls. Our garden seems to agree!

So what did we even grow, in our first year of actively trying to grow vegetables? Well, we got a shit-ton of tomatoes and more Jalapeños than we could ever eat (although to be fair, we don’t eat any). But those plants seemed to not even need us.

• We grew one single carrot that is actually a marigold. Nice seeding, Dollissa.
• We tilled and planted a new garden box that was previously full of weeds and bamboo.
• After learning that you should sow the seeds for beets and radishes right into the soil, we excitedly got it ready in time for those to start. 6 radishes and zero beets have grown. We do not eat radishes. Many of the weeds are back, but some caterpillars love it!

• A few onion and tiny carrot seedlings sprouted outdoors, then disappeared forever. They got to about half an inch tall before we never saw them again.
• We added mums to the pollinator garden, which was always gifted with the presence of at least one butterfly. We like the mums more than they do, but they are very cute. The basil seedlings we transplanted there and to some other spots never took.
• We met Turnip the garden mouse, who appears to have moved away from his multi tunnel complex under the tomatoes. That’s a shame, because we were going to make him a tiny mailbox. Here is an artist’s hopes and dreams on the subject:

• We composted, but never retrieved soil amendments from it − YET. Honestly, we don’t know how to stop.
• A single milkweed grew, and then, too late in the season, we found one Monarch caterpillar. It’s a tragedy.
• The seven nasturtiums that Amandoll planted went out of control and turned into vines. We meant to add them to salads and did not!
• Moonflowers from the previous year planted themselves, and presumably will do so forevermore. Seeds from that same plant, which were collected and planted intentionally, never sprouted.

And now we have months to put off tending anything outside! We will make plans and plans about what we would like to achieve in the next gardening year, but we don’t have to lift even one shovelful of anything if we don’t feel like it. And it’s so cold that we definitely won’t!

In the meantime, have fun looking at my very own gardening blog!