Essay
Notes from New England
It’s time.
Mid-summer. Or at least it feels that way as it is just past the middle of July. All things aside, we have about six weeks of growing season left — well, that’s not quite right. Most of the garden has stopped “growing,” but is now beginning to yield its harvest.
The zucchini are all coming in. As in every summer, we have lots and lots of zucchini. And soon, we will have lots and lots of zucchini bread. The garlic is ready to be harvested. Tomatoes are beginning to turn. The beans left untouched by the gopher are just perfect — the few that are left after that marauding beast. The canning and freezing season is at hand.
This year, the flowers have been grand, especially the lilies. We are smack dab in the middle of day lily season, and they are just resplendent — a hedge of day lilies makes a good garden border and a dramatic visual statement. The oriental lilies — tall, majestic and seductively fragrant — are so magnificent that no photo can do them justice. Maybe the lilies should replace the beans — the gopher seems not to care about beauty, just food.
But all of this indicates a change and transition. Anyone with two ounces of common sense can detect that we are on the downslope, headed toward fall and winter. The days begin their decline, the garden is fruiting, and in…
