Harvest time! Getting reflective (sniff)

I had a pretty successful year in the vegetable garden this year. Looking back at my first blog entry, where I listed the veggies that I would be growing, I find it interesting to remember the journey that we have all made together (me and the vegetables of course):

yellow pear tomatoes- delicious, prolific, we're still eating them.
Roma tomatoes- these didn't work out so well. Lack of water cracked the few that I had.
little wee eggplants and one 'Dusky' eggplant- a total flop.
Royal Burgundy beans- these were great until we went on our honeymoon, when they all dried up and went bad on the vines.
red peppers- these were ok. Not as many earwigs as in previous years, but they were small.
cayenne peppers- as usual, I have so many that I don't know what to do with them.
pumpkins- not the one I actually planted, but my accidental pumpkins are gorgeous!
zucchini- oh man, do I have zucchini. Off of 3 plants I have managed to eat more zucchini than I ever wanted. Thank god Martha Stewart published a great zucchini-mint soup recipe.
ground cherries- These are so fabulous! I don't know what to do with them except eat them right off of the plant, but they're so delicious. They'd make good jam, they taste like butter.
cucumbers- I have become the brunt of many jokes from bringing cucumbers to work all the time.
okra - I think I got one good pod off of my okra. I kind of forgot there were there.
spinach- we had some good salads early in the season.
bunching onions- these come back year after year.
chives- I transplanted them into a pot, and will try to take them in for the winter.
artichokes (these are in the perennial garden)- they seem happy.
scarlett runner beans (against the deck)- I have about 8 lbs of beans in my fridge.
lemongrass- I started this inside from lemongrass stubs, and it is now about 4 feet tall and quite dramatic looking. It's back inside now.
italian basil- so much basil it's crazy.
thai basil- ha ha, I thought these were ground cherries, and I have so much of it.
globe basil- didn't work out.
lemon basil- worked, but I don't know what to do with it, and it went to seed.
parsley- this didn't work very well.
tarragon- transplanted it with the chives.
dill- turns out I never had dill.
fennel- this got huge - but what to do with it? it didn't produce a bulb.
thyme- it's always there, and it's doing fine.
radishes- nothing. I don't like them anyway.
carrots- nothing.
rhubarb- I got a few stalks.
and the ubiquitous mint- for zucchini-mint soup, and mojitos!
Sunflowers - not really a veggie but ended up in the veggie garden. They got about 10 feet tall.
Sweet peas - I grew these for decorative effect and it worked.
Acorn Squash - I got about 7 little squash off of them, and they're delicious!
Cantaloupe - surprise! I found this little guy the other day, hiding under the acorn squash. He's only about 5 inches, but I'll see how big he can get before eating him.

In addition to all of this bounty, I up-rooted the banana plant once again (the fall ritual) and he was not happy. But I left him on the deck so as not to shock him too badly, and we'll see. I don't think I have a perfect spot for a plant like that - 5 feet tall with a 5-foot canopy. Hm. I have to give it some thought. Maybe I'll have to break out the grow-lights in the basement.

When gardens become stressful

Ok so I have been really really busy over the last, um, 2 months. After the wedding I returned to work and the busiest work season of all. In just over a month I have trips to Vancouver (4 days), Toronto (overnight), St. John's (five days), Lindsay ontario (overnight - personal) and back to Toronto (another overnight). All of those cover at least one weekend day.

The yard has gone to crap. The grass is about 2 feet tall, everything's dying off and I'm just leaving it there. I haven't picked any apples so the yard is full of rotting little fruit, and I left the hose laying across the lawn all summer so that now I can hardly find it. It's scary. And it's so stressful to look at. Neither hubby nor I have the energy to tackle that yard, any aspect of it, even though frost is coming and things have to be dealt with pronto. On top of it all, the days are getting shorter so I have only about one hour after work during which I might do this stuff. And there's $750 worth of firewood lying in the laneway waiting to be stacked, but getting rained on nearly every day. The stress, I tell you, the stress.

On Saturday I went into the garden and ripped almost everything out. I picked all of the vegetables and threw all of the spent plants into the woods. I felt better.

Tonight, I'm going to uproot my cannas and use their pot for the newly-dug banana, which has grown exponentially over the summer so that it now has 9 leaves. NINE LEAVES. That's major. It's not quite big enough yet that it will create a canopy over our heads, but it's getting there. After tonight it will reside in our living room once more, taking over the house with its giant leaves, making our open-concept home seem oppressive. Perhaps I should invest in a parrot to complete the scene.

Then I'll have to do laundry, iron, sort out the clothes situation, water my plants, clean the toilet, and find some time to sleep.

These are normally my weekend activities but the weekends have disappeared down the drain. (sigh)

Bah humbug.

I have been in a colossally bad mood for the last couple of weeks.

Harumph.

I need a weekend. I at least need one opportunity to sleep in, or sleep trouble-free, which I'm not really getting.

Today I'm having the kind of day where I make faces behind everyone's backs. I hope nobody turns around or I'm screwed.