September plantings

The autumn planting is done, at least that I know about. Potted chrysthanthemums along the driveway; asters on the front steps; some sort of sunflowers in the front flower garden and a new hanging basket have been put to bed and watered in. I helped buy some of them and dug the holes that were more than trowel-sized. The Better Half did the rest. This year’s selection of mums was more expensive and less attractive than past years but they add a nice touch of color.

potted asters with bee

Photo by J. Harrington

Sometime over the next several weeks, we’ll pick up some pumpkins and those, plus what we did yesterday and today, will take care of outside decorations until Christmas season, unless the Better Half declares otherwise or I get inspired at a weak moment.

The sourdough prepared from the revived starter is looking promising. I think a boule will get popped into the oven this afternoon. Following the directions in Sourdough by Science yielded a dough that’s much tackier than I’m used to. Learning is such fun!! I’m still scratching my head about why a baker should both preshape and shape the dough.

We heard a few, very few, shotguns this morning. It’s Minnesota’s youth hunt weekend. From what we've noticed the past week or so, there haven’t been many birds in the air.

And Now It’s September,

By Barbara Crooker

and the garden diminishes: cucumber leaves rumpled

and rusty, zucchini felled by borers, tomatoes sparse

on the vines. But out in the perennial beds, there’s one last

blast of color: ignitions of goldenrod, flamboyant 

asters, spiraling mums, all those flashy spikes waving

in the wind, conducting summer’s final notes.

The ornamental grasses have gone to seed, haloed

in the last light. Nights grow chilly, but the days

are still warm; I wear the sun like a shawl on my neck

and arms. Hundreds of blackbirds ribbon in, settle

in the trees, so many black leaves, then, just as suddenly,

they’re gone. This is autumn’s great Departure Gate,

and everyone, boarding passes in hand, waits

patiently in a long, long line.

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