The Goodness of the Garden . . . All the Year Round

September 8, 2026

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What’s Within Your Grasp?

I live in Kentucky where humid heat  loves to make itself at home  in July and August. This year it extended its stay into September and drained my energy until I awoke at the beginning of this week to 60 degrees. So I started the week with a mile-and-a-half walk, followed by two hours of working in the garden, all before the temperature reached 74 degrees. I felt the energy flowing and the front flower gardens look better for it.

It’s important that we all recognize what zaps us and what gives us joy. I was telling a writer friend last week that I have to have a certain amount of emotional energy to be able to write. Otherwise, I could have all the time in the world but nothing to say, or at least nothing that I can get from my head, through my heart and onto a page.

Cutting out the spent foliage in the gardens and assessing what grew well this year pulls my head away from the worries of the world to focus on just what’s within my grasp at the moment. For example, most of the flowers along my front walk that require sun didn’t bloom this year. The tulip poplar trees have gotten so large that they shade the flowers. So, I’m looking for suggestions of plants (other than hostas, which I have) that thrive in the shade. Please put your suggestions in the comments and I will be grateful!

I’m also grateful as I work in the garden to see the vegetables and herbs that grew well this year. The arugula is a champion right now, basil is still standing tall and the Asian eggplants I planted in containers are still trying to produce. Green pepper plants have new flowers on them. It’s been a terrible year for tomatoes (likely too much rain for most of the summer) so I’m treasuring those that are still ripening on the vines.

The drying beans give me a different lesson. Growing beans that will dry on the vine then keep in a jar until I’m ready to use them is one of my favorite plants to tend. Once they sprout, I weed them so the young plants can grow then I guide the vines up the trellis. After that, I only need to make sure they get enough water and I let them do their thing for weeks until I pick them green or let them hang until they are dry. At present, the pinto beans are at various stages of green and drying, reminding me that even developing beans don’t all mature at the same time.

Neither does my learning about gardening. I’ll continuing harvesting and tending what remains throughout the fall, welcoming the time to be part of the great cycle of life in my own yard. My goal is always to remember this year’s lessons and apply them to what’s next. What have you learned in the garden this year that you would like to share?