Autumn means a bit of garden clean up as some things begin to brown and go dormant. A few elm leaves are just beginning to fall. It also evokes an urge to finish whatever remains incomplete - to close out, to button up, to store away for the Winter to come.
The field corn is drying on its stalks for eventual harvest. The light-colored patches on the mountains are aspens turned golden. However, a new gravel pit has added dust to the air making this evocative-of-Fall sight hazy. Our urge now is to surround ourselves with the tokens and symbols of the harvest even if we don't necessarily grow anything to harvest. A harvest can be anything meaningful which we want to take into the next Season.
Pumpkins - some of them - are ready for harvest. And, our minds seem to want - to need - to surround ourselves in the colors of Autumn.
The native rabbit brush, with its lovely but funky-scented blooms heralds the latter days of September-into-October. The silver lace vines on the back porch are covered with their frothy, white flowers. The last flowers of Autumn are especially evocative as we say goodbye to the Season of growth and prepare for the more austere moods and colors of Winter.
An Autumn bouquet created from the few blooms and berries remaining in the garden - yellow Jerusalem artichoke flowers, pink perennial sweet peas, and the greenish berries of the late-fruiting black lace elderberries. It will be many months before these things reappear in the gardens.
Symbols of the Fall harvest now decorate the outside of the Cottage helping me to visually celebrate this Season that celebrates both abundance and endings.
Golden rod blooms in the Fall and I always gather some to enjoy inside. In the Cottage's red dining room, a splash of sunlight casts a glow on the blossoms. For me, Autumn brings an almost wistful mood as the Sun rides lower in the sky and its light is softer, more diffuse.
The mantle in the red dining room symbolizes the abundance of the gardens' harvest even if all these things are not actually from the gardens, though some are.
About half of my gardens' bounty is canned, dehydrated, or dried and now resides in the pantry. I am relieved to say that my canning is finished for this year! After
the frost, squash, pumpkins, and potatoes will occupy their baskets in
the pantry. Onions, garlic, and shallots curing in the Block Barn will
soon be brought in, as well.
The other half of my harvest resides in the upright freezer on the laundry porch. There is a feeling of contentment and a sense of safety and security knowing that food has been put by that will feed oneself and loved ones for months to come.
Autumn! And...my thoughts turn to... APPLE PIE!
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