When summer gathers up her robes of glory,
And, like a dream, glides away.
~ Sarah Helen Whitman
Summer heat has for the moment waned and we’re enjoying comfortable days and almost chilly nights. The past few weeks of high temperatures paired with alternating days of heavy rain have combined to produce a bumper crop of tomatoes, peppers, summer squash, eggplant and more. After a week long vacation with the family (garden and technology-free) and feeling under the weather for a few days…I have more than enough to keep me busy picking, canning and freezing the abundant harvests!
At the moment I am caught up and have been working on other pressing family matters like preparations for the new school year which begins in just a couple of weeks. (Can you believe we have not one, not two, but THREE graduations in our family in 2011?!) Yes, it’s busy! Even though the vegetable garden is slowly winding down, I have been watching and delighting in one special crop that seems to be growing and thriving with no signs of slowing… the Musquee de Provence pumpkins I planted in memory of my youngest brother.
The seeds were tucked in late last spring on the south side of our house away from the rest of the gardens. The weather didn’t cooperate after sowing, it was dry and cool for a time, but summer weather finally settled in and the warm rains had the seeds sprouted in just a matter of days. A thick layer of compost and a mulch of straw and the vines were off and growing. With regular rain showers and the summer heat I haven’t done anything more than redirect the very lengthy vines every now and again, obviously I wasn’t paying attention as I did or I would have noticed this:
It’s big. It’s beautiful. It’s everything my brother would have loved about growing his first heirloom pumpkins. The timing of discovering it now is poetic, the legal trial concerning his death will finally have closure at the end of August as these vines are only just beginning to mature. I can honestly say I’m looking forward to fall arriving… and watching the pumpkins I planted for him light up the vines as they ripen. A very sweet ending to one season and a sweet beginning of the next. Happy gardening, friends.
What a wonderful way to honor your brother! I’m so happy for you that the change in seasons will mark this other change as well.
Thank you Carole. New seasons and new beginnings are always good.
I cannot wait to see what the pumpkin crop will bring!!
Thank you, it looks like it will be a nice harvest!