Closing down the garden

One lone sunflower, planted by a bird or chimpunk, flowered behind the woodpile, it's face turning to the sun. Even the basil is leaning towards the southwest as the sun slides further down the horizon.

I spent most of today cleaning up the gardens. The heirloom Brandywines succumbed to the late blight, forcing me to rip out the plants, then pluck the last remnant tomatoes, and a final serving of green bush beans. Curiosity got the better of me--I had to see how our carrots were fairing. Lovely, full-bodies carrots had been hiding under the Swiss chard! Even Callie tried to steal one from my bucket. Never trust a hungry Rottweiler. A few hardy butternut squash survived the squash vine borer infestation, but we won't have near the crop cellared that we did last winter. And as for John's onions--I'm afraid they're green onions, not bunching storage onions. Our remaining pepper plants are enjoying warmth under John's new hoop house (yet another project under construction in the yard). He hopes to plant some hardy winter crops under it soon.