GRAVETTE — After the heavy frost Sunday morning, it followed that during the warm-up Sunday afternoon I would check out the remains of last summer’s garden.
What a . . . . . . I won’t attempt to describe it. Yes, I will.
Corn stalks askew; okra plants stripped of leaves by the marauding deer; radishes and lettuce, planted for autumn consumption, grazed off to the ground; the tomato and pepper plants encased in a mangled mess of vines and netting that was supposed to keep the deer away. Yep, it was quite a sight.
There is a bright green spot, however. The turnip crop was showing signs of actually producing one of those white and purple globes that I enjoy eating raw. Skip the cooking.
I checked beneath the verdant green foliage and yep, wouldn’t you know it,as I pulled one from the ground, the round globe was pencil shape, matchlike in thickness and anemically all-white. Pshaw. So much for that.
I did a little maintenance at the site, untangled the plastic netting that covered the tomato-less vines. I decided to leave the okra stalks for the deer. They can’t be that hungry. And the corn stalks, unfit for an autumn display, I have left for another day.
But there really was one bright spot. There were bright zinnias, golden marigolds, lavender cosmos and some other little red flowers. All survived the heavy frost as they await that killer freeze.
The Monarchs and other smaller butterflies and honeybees were having a field day. Gardening does have its positives. ‘Till next year.
Opinion, Pages 4 on 10/21/2009