![\"\"](\"http:\/\/ruralroute2.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/Boxelder_oct_2010_RR2.jpg\" "\\"Boxelder_oct_2010_RR2\\"")
<\/a>The box elder tree by the garden looks ghostly in the morning light with no leaves. (October 2010)<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>Even the little maple trees are brilliant with color. (October 2010)<\/p><\/div>\n
End of the Season
\nThe growing season here at Rural Route 2 came to an end a week ago Sunday morning when the temperature was in the mid-20s. Even with tarps and sheets, it was too cold to save anything.<\/p>\n
The pumpkins are withered and dead. The pole beans are withered and dead. So are the tomatoes. And the pepper plants. And the cucumbers. And the “Pumpkins on a stick” — which were supposed to be an eggplant that grew fruit resembling tiny pumpkins. They never ever got any blossoms on them, much less “pumpkins on a stick.”<\/p>\n
We were able to get a number of Jack Be Little pumpkins that one of the ladies from church took to decorate the tables for our annual pork dinner last Sunday. There are a few of those left in the garden, but the vines are completely gone now.<\/p>\n
The only things that did not seem the least bit bothered by temperatures in the mid-20s are the beets and the carrots. I pulled most of the beets to make beet pickles, but I left a few in one row that were smaller. It will be interesting to see how much cold they will tolerate.<\/p>\n
I know for a fact that carrots will tolerate quite cold temperatures before they are killed off. I dug my carrots last year in a snowstorm in November — and the tops were still green.<\/p>\n
The chickens are going to be sad that they will not have more cucumbers. I have discovered that Laverne and Shirley and Betty White and Bluebell and Gingersnap just adore cucumbers. I slice them up and throw them in the chicken run and they dive at them and peck happily. It’s kind of ironic, really. I cannot eat the cucumbers because of my ragweed allergy. The protein in cucumbers is close to the protein in ragweed, and my body thinks I’ve been eating ragweed if I eat cucumbers. But the chickens eat cucumbers and absolutely adore them.<\/p>\n
Most of the summer birds are gone now, too. Only the Bluebirds and the Robins are left. I can hear the Bluebirds twittering over the hayfield on a sunny day. And the Robins are still chirping and singing from the trees. But in time, they will leave too.\u00a0 The geese have been flying over Rural Route 2 for a while now.<\/p>\n
I love the way William Shakespeare described trees in late fall. . .
\n“Bare ruined choirs where late the sweet birds sang.”<\/p>\n
LeAnn R. Ralph<\/p>\n
Here are some fall scenes from Rural Route 2. . .<\/p>\n
<\/a>The box elder tree by the garden looks ghostly in the morning light with no leaves. (October 2010)<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>Even the little maple trees are brilliant with color. (October 2010)<\/p><\/div>\n