September 21

OMG!! It has been a long time since I posted. The days pass so quickly and then meld into each other. Before you realize it a week has passed and then a month. Or more.

It seems that I was just  putting in the gardens (a bit late because of the Spring that might as well not have been) and here I am putting it to bed for the year. As usual the gardens I imagined in the spring are not the ones I ended up with.

Ronni Bennett has an interesting post on time management as you get older.

September 25

Another post that hits home. I have pretty much given up on vegetable gardening also.

October 4

Another OMG moment. I had intended to come back and finish the two previous posts but we got busy with other things. We have had errands and appointments for almost every day since.

The temperatures have turned definitely towards fall. However, I did get out and pulled some weeds in the containers. We had some heavy rains over the last couple of weeks so those weeds have flourished. A couple of the flowers have also done nicely so far. I brought the lemon grass, stevia and all my rosemary pots in for the season. My dehydrator is full of cuttings from those. When I get the dried herbs out and into jars I will take the trays out and scrub them down. The next time I trim the stevia I will try to root them.

Garden clean up is going slowly because the weather has either been high summer hot or monsoonal rainy. One of the gardeners whose blog I read often said some time ago that as she gets older (she is a bit older than I am) gardening in rain and cold is definitely not enjoyable. I concur totally. The link I had on the 25th describes another change in my habits. That writer described his decision to give up on veggies as a "heresy." Five years ago I might have agreed with that description. What has changed is I am five years older with less energy and the temperatures on our patio are not good for veggies. The early season greens bolt and the tomatoes and peppers don't set fruit. I will put in flowers and herbs.

The Ronni Bennett piece ties into this. Though a number of bloggers have noticed that as they have gotten older they have to manage their time more carefully. Ronni simply puts it very clearly and concisely. We, at MaryContrary's house, try to get all our errands and appointments done early in the day when we are most alert and energetic. The same goes for gardening. What I don't get done by 10am probably isn't going to get done until another day (or ever depending on how urgent the task is.