2010-We harvested the last salad from the garden, mostly what came up from the mesclun mix I planted at the end of August. There was chervil and two kinds of green lettuce, some frisee and of course arugula, which is still growing. There were two small heads of radicchio, a red and a green that I left to see if they winter over. I also cut some baby chard leaves and the yellow flowering stalks from the baby bok choy that were very sweet, not bitter at all. When I cut some chard for Judy over the weekend I noticed that the slugs were still busy eating the ground leaves. I hope on a morning like this they freeze solid.
2011-Most of the late season things in the garden were eaten by deer this season (see Oct. 22) but I did manage to make a Thanksgiving vegetable dish out of a mix of collards, kale, and wild mustard that was fantastic. Every time it’s turned cold so far we get another reprieve of a couple of beautiful warm days.
I would have presumed that colors are brighter under the sun, but yesterday, under a deeply cloudy sky, the dried milkweed was bright rust against the scarlet rosehips. The greys behind them were rich and warm. Today under the sun, the milkweed is pure beige and the rosehips are lost in the tangle of their thorny branches.
2012-Early this month I wrote that the color had drained out of everything. But, as we are blinded when the lights go out, then gradually become accustomed to seeing by whatever available light, my eyes have become accustomed to this early winter palette. The relationships have changed, but from the high notes of the maroon rose stems to the underlying black greens of the junipers and the velvety charcoal apple trunks flecked with pale sage green lichen, the range is rich and varied once the vision clears. I wish I could paint it instead of talking about it.
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