Winter Chill Approaches

Since the nights are colder…

And the grey has set in, I’ve more or less allowed my plants to do as they will in their final weeks. Instead of meticulously caring for them and their every need, I mainly do a run-through each day to pick any late-ripening fruit; which, as it turns out, is quite a lot. Apparently some people intentionally plant late so they get high yields due to stressed plants (?). There’s a lesson hidden in my Year Of Plants (anno plantae) regarding the necessity of stress in growing the healthiest and most abundant plants …but I can’t quite put my finger on it. I for one don’t become more productive if you snip a few of my limbs and throw me in the freezer. But what do I know.

Also interesting is how fruits will refuse to ripen on the vine, but will ripen almost immediately following being picked. This is likely due to the tomatoes which have shared the bowl with them. Tomatoes are a natural source of ethylene gas, which is a ripening agent. Plopped our peppers down next to those and they turned from yellow-green to bright red in a matter of days.

This seemed at first to only affect the bell peppers (which appear oddly sensual), though just today I’ve found a long-picked jalapeño to be feeling the effects. I consider this the final Great Success of my great garden experiment:

The plant blogs, as you can see, are winding down. I may update from time to time in the winter months, though perhaps this blog will hibernate while a new and aptly melancholy blog takes its place till Spring.