The official start of Fall is a week away, and the winding down of summer activities is in full swing. We know the usual ones: shorter days, school busses on the road, swimming pools closing, trees starting to turn color.
But there are others signs as well. The Saturday St. Joseph’s Farmers Market is getting smaller, as some vendors are no longer coming. However, there is still bountiful produce and today I got half a dozen fresh ears of corn. I do this whenever I go to the Farmers Market, because I keep thinking it will be the last time fresh corn will be on the menu. One of these days, I’ll be right.
The produce selection now contains pumpkins, gourds, mums, and other fall favorites, while tomatoes are waning. This is a sign of fall I don’t like, because it means if I want tomatoes I’ll have to buy the bland, tasteless grocery store variety for the coming months.
After A and I walk on Saturday mornings, we stop at Caffe Tosi for refreshments. It’s a small shop and always crowded, but the lines are no longer out the door. License plates from other states have also begun to fade. It means the tourist traffic is following the tomatoes. However, the upside to this is that locals who have avoided the downtown area all summer will emerge to keep local businesses going through the winter months.
In my own small realm (meaning gardens), I no longer deadhead zinnias and petunias. I’ve cut the day lilies to a foot above ground and am about to do the same thing to the coneflowers. A friend suggested recently that I move my Rosemary plant indoors to weather for the winter. But I won’t.
When Summer is done in the gardens, I am too.
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