Goodbye, Garden.

Like many gardeners in Maine, we said goodbye to our vegetable garden last weekend. Frost had blackened the tomato vines and the basil, and the kale had been harvested down to skinny purple spines. It's a bittersweet thing for gardeners: this autumn goodbye. The plants are tired, the gardeners are tired, it's time to put the garden to bed. Or, in this case, it's time to remove the summer annuals, and plant the tulip bulbs for a vibrant spring show.

It helps to know that the garden was a big success, and that the campus community really seemed to appreciate it - we had so many positive comments all summer long. In fact, so many people have asked us to plant another next year, we've decided to do a veggie garden encore next spring.

In late May, when the tulips have faded, they'll make way for the flowers and veggies of summer. It's the way of things.
Goodbye, garden. For now.