Second Spring Into Fall

While autumn is here in Norcal, we also have our own little “second spring”. Harvest is certainly here. Lots of apples and pears, and the fall crops of figs and artichokes are right on time. But as things cool down, some plants that get scorched during summer have another chance to flourish. So even as the trees change color (and we do get fall colors in California!), our garden gets a few new glimpses of green….and red.

The greens are baby lettuces and vibrant herbs- a last blast of summer that is always welcome. The reds are tomatoes, peppers and strawberries. The peppers are just ripening, but the tomatoes and strawberries are enjoying our last stretch of constant warmth. These tomatoes are often the best of the year. Worth the wait and a fine farewell to our favorite crop.

So even as we plant our chard and the ever-popular kale (enough already with the kale…its just a vegetable, jeez), we see new roses popping up around the garden. Hydrangea enjoy the cool and bloom again. Fall is here, but our second spring makes it a smooth transition….

9 thoughts on “Second Spring Into Fall”

Beautiful shots. Where I live, fall is considered “spring-like” because it is the end of the bad times – the killer summer heat.

Thanks for sharing.

putneyfarm
October 19, 2013 @ 5:54 pm

Thanks for the visit…

Reply

Lovely photos!! You’re so right – the “end of the season” tomatoes seem to taste the best…. maybe because we know the season’s pretty much over. I have two tomato plants that started themselves from seeds which dropped from tomato plants I had last year. They’re scrawny and each have, perhaps, two small tomatoes on them but their determination to thrive and leave more seeds is impressive! (I find it really, really hard to “thin” anything from seeds I’ve planted. They’ve forced their way first out of the seed and then up the packed earth to reach the sun. Who am I to pull them out?)