Pepper Passings

Your time is up, little pepper plant.

A south wind plays the chimes. The sun is out and warm. My gardening attire was a shirt and light skirt and I was, of course, barefoot.

It was a perfect day to pick plenty of pretty peppers. They were smooth and shimmery and almost all of them green. The pepper plants were a picture of health, lush and green, large-leaved with new growth. On such a beautiful day, why did I hack up the pepper plants, pull them out and toss them in the compost heap?

Because seasons turn.

While at this moment the thermometer says that it is 78 degrees F outdoors, tomorrow's temperature will peak in the mid-50s by mid morning, then fall throughout the day. The low tomorrow night -- or rather Thursday morning -- will fall just below freezing. Thursday night to Friday morning, the low will fall below freezing  again.

The forecast for the days following is not a promising one for heat-loving peppers. The cool weather wouldn't have killed them (if I'd covered them on the two nights of freezing), but it won't be enough to let them grow.

When it's time, it's time. I have conceded to winter. The last of the summer vegetables has left the garden. We do have plenty of cole crops -- I harvested a big, beautiful broccoli head yesterday and lovely lacinato kale today. And the lettuce is fabulous. Yet summer is gone and winter is on its way. The wheel turns. Just let go.

Found a couple of these stuck to bell pepper stems. It is the egg case of a
praying mantis. I put them in a nearby cedar tree for protection from winter
weather.