A hint of fall

My husband and I walked together yesterday morning, four miles in 77 minutes. Cutting three minutes off our usual 20-minutes/mile pace means just one thing: cooler weather!

According to weather.com, it's 52 here in the Middle of Nowhere this morning. I don't think we'll be using the AC today.

The leaves on this maple are turning gold and orange. Already!

I worked in the garden yesterday. Not that there's anything new in that, but this is the earliest I can remember actually pulling out plants and grabbing the last of anything. The edamame plants are all out of the ground, except for three which are drying so I can save the seeds. Ditto the green beans. I picked enough for one more meal.

There are three big green tomatoes, which will be perfect to fry. Maybe tomorrow. You can't let them go too long or they're mushy. I'm making gumbo for tonight, to use up the last of the okra.

I continue to be delighted with the process of gardening, in all its forms. I love gathering what's ripe from the back yard and figuring out what to do with it. And when it all gets ripe at the same time – corn, for example, since I only seeded once – I love blanching and packaging it for the freezer. This is the kind of processed food I can really endorse!

I also planted some pink coreopsis, tall garden phlox and a clump of sea grass in the landscape bed, and transplanted a Meyer lemon from its little plastic pot into a larger clay pot. (Martha says clay is better for Meyer lemons. Who knows?) I'm thinking it will be several years before I get a lemon; in the meantime the lime tree is loaded with fruit.

Do any of you have Meyer lemon plants, either in your yard or potted? I've had great luck with the lime tree, but I know Meyer lemons can be picky. I need to get some more citrus fertilizer, I'm nearly out of it.