Season finale, finally?

Garden season has ended. It's November. We are lucky thus far to have not be covered in a graceful blanket of winter white (I'm not complaining!). And it has been months since I have blogged. I have neglected to share the excitement of late summer and fall harvests. I have also neglected to take part in Halloween postings, post-harvest blunders, Farmer's Market season finales, and many other wonderful late season festivities.

The thing is, grad school has consumed much of my free time by wiping me of any and all spare energy that I once used for peaceful thinking. I have been left with little creative juices to spare.

Recap: The season was incredibly successful in our little community garden. We were overrun with cherry tomatoes, lemon cucumbers, and eggplant. All of which I opened my kitchen to with warm ovens! It was a fruitful experience (literally) and the B&GC and I benefited greatly. Most of the kids were able to see multiple stages of the garden and for their hard work, shared in the bountiful harvests. There were, however, a few things that did not do so well in our gardens. The corn was flattened by the wind at one point and never successfully recovered and from which, we saw very few ears, none of which I consumed. Pumpkins were non-existent. I was ever careful to order cute little white pumpkins that the kids would be able to share. We were graced with a few melons. I quickly learned that the mini watermelons we were growing were quick to expire. There was more than one occasion I bit into a juicy looking watermelon to realize it was actually far overripe and NOT refreshing!

Our season finale came in the form of a B&GC-themed scarecrow! The kids stuffed and filled a B&GC shirt and used spent corn stalks and sunflower heads to decorate the Iowa Arboretum for their fall festivities. It turned out spectacularly. I was quite proud to say my kids grew (some) of the scarecrow's stuffs. It was the most appropriate way I could think of to end the season. The kids saw the roundabout way gardens work, and had fun doing it.

Although I neglected to share in the festivities, it was incredibly rewarding to see another season through. I guess it's time to get out the seed catalogs again and make a cup of hot coco as we wait for the great white of winter, if you're so lucky.