Finishing and starting again

My summer garden is finishing up.  The last of the beans are plumping, peppers are going strong, and the tomatoes are turning red.  Even the fall strawberries are slowing down their production (or maybe Wyatt is just keeping up with them now . . . ).  My sunflowers have lost their petals and are ripening their seeds.  Yesterday was the fall equinox.

The end of the growing season is usually this is a melancholy time of year for me.  I feel like summer takes so long to arrive here in the Northwest, then rushes away.  Despite the many warm and sunny days that we have enjoyed this year, it never feels like enough.

But there is something in the garden that's boosting my spirits this September.  New plants.  Yes, I'm trying my hand at some fall and winter gardening again.  Last time didn't go so well, I know.  But I'm not a quitter.  Plus, I signed on as a member for the winter session of Edible Landscapes community supported plant starts and ended up with a generous flat of healthy little plants that I picked up last weekend.  After reworking and amending the hardworking soil in my raised beds, I planted:

• Red Russian kale
• Lacinato kale
• Spinach, Emu and Space
• Lettuce, Australian Yellow Leaf and Galactic
• Endive, Eros
• Red-vein sorrel
• Snow Crown cauliflower
• Purple Sprouting broccoli
• Red Beard bunching onions

Some of the plants will mature before winter.  Others will overwinter and produce in the spring, like broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower and onions.  This is going to be fun!