We knew it was coming, so there should be no surprises. Today is officially the 1st day of Fall; the end of Summer. In the East, it was a quick, fairly weird summer that began with 4 weeks of rain. Impenetrable, event-spoiling rain. Activities were shelved, but more importantly summer gardens were sent into turmoil. It’s nice to water new seedlings, but drowning is seldom a positive option. That’s what we had.

Some of the 1st tomatoes were bug-born or less than the big beauties of years past. After the rain; of course, the drought followed. Mother Nature’s watering is far preferable to hand-watering or in-ground sprinklers. Crops were confused, and the bounty of last year’s July was nowhere to be seen this year. August played a fair game, especially at the farm markets where the peaches, nectarines, and plums dominated. So many wonderful cobblers.

Now we are deep into apple season with more varieties than you can spell. Each with a little different taste and crunch; each a veritable treat in itself. Apples and cold-weather crops are fine, but there is something sad about saying goodbye to summer. It feels so final as if we have to hunker in already for winter.

Grab a shovel; there’s still time to do some planting. The Thanksgiving table will appreciate the Fall bounty.

In the meantime, light up the grill and plop down eggplant, peppers, late season squash, and big cloves of garlic: Ratatouille.

Always end with bright news: Mushroom season!