Seasonal Denial

I've been trying to make the transition into fall; putting my summer garden to rest. These last few days of rainy forecasts trumped by warm sun aren't helping.

I popped the last round of ripe Sun Golds into my mouth as though they would give me the courage to start yanking out plants. But look at all the green tomatoes that may easily turn yellow with a couple more days of this weather! I couldn't do it.

Really these are going to ripen...

 

The Shishito peppers, packed with flowers, made it difficult as well. The sun was warm on my back; certainly a few more warm days will help bring on another round, right? But then I caught a slight scent in the air finally convincing me this won't last. I collected another bowl to be wok fried as I plucked the plants from the garden.

 

 

All those white flowers made it tough!

 

The peppers I collected were significantly larger than the ones from earlier this summer. I saw some for sale at the Friday Harbor farmers' market a couple of weeks ago. I was a little envious since theirs were much bigger than the ones we had. And $8 a pound! I'll have to say they are spicy and loose that distinct, concentrated "green" flavor compared to the smaller, younger fruits. Plus, the larger they are, the longer they take to cook. And when it comes to snacking on these, you want them to be done quick!

 

 

Wok-a! Wok-a!

 

I needed little convincing with pulling out the basil though. Once the nights get below 50 degrees, basil slimes out pretty quickly. One last round of pesto. I brought the plants into the kitchen to pull the leaves off. As I took the left over plants out to the compost, my son asked why I was throwing the plants away. I explained basil is an annual and grows in the summer. I told him once it gets cold, the basil will die so it's time for them to go into the compost. A kid who likes to save EVERYTHING he didn't argue with me for once.

 

So long, farewell...

 

I've checked the forecast (NOAA is pretty accurate) and it's supposed to dip to 47 on Wed night. Perfect weather for turning my Sun Golds to mush for sure. In the meantime, I'll keep up my seasonal denial.