Just plucked the last ripe, red tomatoes from their vines. It’s down into the 40’s (Fahrenheit) at night now and while it does make it to the 60’s and 70’s during the day, the days are short now and it hardly starts getting warmed up when the day is done and it’s cooling back down again.
The tomato vines are all almost dead, just a little green left. The squash vines look good but that’s deceiving as fruit growth stopped a month ago, though the zucchini gave up one last decent squash a few days ago and now it’s done. The garden is going back to sleep for the next 5 months.
It’s like a friend who’s gone off on an extended vacation, I enjoy gardening, it’s always a pleasure to see those first little green leaves poke above the soil, and anticipate the gifts of good, tasty, non-gmo, non-sprayed fruit and veggies that come from the soil every summer and fall.
But now I have to wait until the return of Spring. Meanwhile I’ve been back in the workshop, cutting stones again. A little late actually, I quit during the high point of summer, it gets too hot in there, and now it’s getting a little too cold in there. There’s about 24 dopped agates and jaspers waiting to be cut into glittering, shiny cabochons, finished off 3 beauties this morning and I may get a few more started into the process later today. It has to warm up more first though. Alaska is for Alaskans, as that new saying goes that I just made up.