I’m sorry, I’ve been away, lost in the realm of back to school routines and commitments that make me run (sometimes literally) from 6 am to 9pm most days. I need to get back to my blog so I’m going to jump right in and just talk about what I’m thinking about today. I’ve been tossing around the idea that I am a “process” gardener. In other words I love the process of planning the garden, planting and growing things. The end product is not that important to me. I enjoy the fruit of my labor but producing a zillion tomatoes is not my goal. The enjoyment for me comes from the act of gardening. I think that this is very different from gardeners who have their eye on the prize at the end and consider the work it takes to get there to be hard labor. It isn’t ever hard for me. I can weed, water and prune all day and love every second of it. If I loose to the conditions, so be it, I’m okay with that. I have to stock my freezer with dinners in the spring because I know I won’t want to come inside and cook. I just love being out there.
What I’m not too okay with is the idea that it’s almost over. Fall in New England is really beautiful but I get hit with a little case of the blues at this time of the year. I just can’t believe that summer is ending. Where did it go? Do I really have to wait through three long seasons for it to return? That seems like forever right now.
Okay, enough wining… there’s still a ton of work to do. We have broccoli, lettuce, Brussel sprouts and herbs growing . I’m planning some winter gardening activities to keep things busy. I have lots of window space here in my new office that my rosemary plant, geraniums and other herbs will love. Maybe I’ll finally get a cold frame going and stay in the game for a longer season. At the very least I could add some new houseplants and spend some more time reading garden blogs from the southern hemisphere.
It may be fall but spring will be here before we know it, right?
What kind of gardener are you?
Be well and enjoy everything.
Michele
The Salem Garden 
I am with you!
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I never thought about it but I guess I’m with you – process. I just came in from a couple of hours of just moving some perennials around because they seemed out of balance. I’ve been gardening at least a few hours each day because I know I won’t be able to far sooner than I’d like. Shoveling snow just doesn’t cause my pulse to quicken like garden does. 🙂
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Process for me, too. I’m just happy being outside and if I get a tomato or two, then I’m even happier.
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GREAT POST. AWESOME GARDEN!
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Definitely a process gardener, but I sure do love the tomatoes! I am naturally a task-oriented, receive some kind of reward for my labor kind of person. Chronic illness changed that in me, or I had to adapt or go crazy. Now I just love being IN my garden, touching it, interacting with it, sharing it with the bees and butterflies and not so much with cucumber beetles and squash bugs. But, yes, it is the process that feeds my soul while my garden does feed me and my children somewhat.
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Same here. My husband LOVES to harvest, I love the other stuff like you do. What I pretty much grudge is having to prepare it for storage. It’s fun cooking it or eating it fresh, but the storage is the issue for me too.
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I know, I need to do more of that. People expect me to be great at canning and storage and I’m not :(. I wish I had more energy and time for it. I seem to find the gardening and fresh cooking time easily.
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I bought this dozen of quart size canning jars and dozen of 2 pt. and they’re all full but I still didn’t preserve all the things I wanted. I froze things, dehydrated things (wow, this was such a good thing for our tons of purple basil), fermented things and canned things. The thought of needing that many canning jars, ugh! I don’t like canning either. I now know why groups of women would have canning days together!
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I think it would be lots more fun in a group. Some of my friends have actually been talking about doing that lately. I have lots of jars in my basement and no their not full. It sounds like you’ve accomplished a LOT of preserving! That’s great!!
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