An Autumn Getaway: Apples and Garden Chores

I’m back at the countryside. It’s September now—a personal record for me; I’ve become a bit more adventurous. The weather was a real treat this time, too. It was actually a very warm day for late September—warm enough to run around in shorts, though I was wearing a sweater and sweatpants. Still, it gets cold faster these days; by six in the evening, it’s already dark and noticeably chilly.

But the morning and afternoon felt almost like summer. You could easily get away with wearing shorts—a real September gift. I started the day with something special: picking apples. I’d never done it quite like this before. I gathered every apple I could reach—which was most of them, I think—but I left the ones at the very top untouched.

I was harvesting, in a way. I got the apples, but I’d also wanted to pick some redcurrants for tea. I missed the boat on that one, though; the currants are simply gone. I should probably plan to harvest them in late August—sometime around the 20th would be perfect. So, no redcurrants for me, but I do have apples. I’m also waiting for the mint to dry; I decided to give it another week before taking the leaves back to the city—sometime next week.

There’s something new this season, too: seed collecting. Mom pointed out that flowers produce seeds at the end of the season—using the calendula as an example. It’s like a daisy, but orange. Where the flower used to be, there are now seeds. Mom said they need to be dried out. So, I gathered the calendula seeds. They’re arranged in a circle—there used to be a center with petals all around, but now the center is full of seeds, and the petals are gone. I walked through the garden and gathered what I believe to be seeds from various flowers—I figured it out myself. There were cornflowers—tiny, dried, gray-colored heads. Some types of asters had a sort of seed-bearing top, and the zinnias were similar to calendula: seeds in the center instead of petals.

So, I headed home with a stash of seeds. I decided to take another walk through the garden looking for more; it’s fun. That’s the kind of gardener I am—finding things to do even at the end of the season. The large asters had already finished blooming, but the small, flat, disc-like ones were just getting started. They’re small and beautiful—especially now that the big asters are gone.

I did a bit of weeding—just a little—wandering into the corners of the garden where the flowers and grass had become hopelessly tangled. Now that it’s the end of the season, the flowers have faded and the grass is growing slowly, making it easier to tell what’s what. Some flowers, however, have actually become more colorful and are putting on a noticeable display; they really catch the eye now. That’s how the seasons play out in my garden. I walked to the far corners and cleared away the weeds.

Then I started digging in the clay-heavy corner—a section where nothing grows because of the clay soil. I dug there just to confirm the clay content and get a better sense of the soil. There’s also a corner full of stones where nothing will grow, so I started clearing that area out with a shovel. I didn't clear much—mostly just for the fun of it—so there’s still work to be done there.

It was a lovely, warm day, too—bright sun and a beautiful sky. It looked just like summer—which was a real plus. After that, I played some computer games. Time to relax—the season was winding down. Sure, I did some summer chores, but not too strenuously—mostly just for fun, and taking it easy. I also played games. I kept playing a Diablo mod called The Hell 3. It’s not exactly a typical "summer" game, but it’s fun to play. Even though it has a dark, gothic vibe, it’s incredibly atmospheric for a gloomy autumn day—wandering through a dungeon while the room is already dark. I made it down to the third level, where the gravediggers are, and took out the Butcher. It plays great!

For something more colorful, I fired up Duke Nukem 3D using the EDuke32 engine. I wandered through a few episodes—just to make sure it was running—and was actually surprised by the new Alien World Order episode. It’s bright and colorful—a fantastic pixel-style shooter.

In the evening, I checked on my hoop-house greenhouse. Out of seven plants, only two are left so far—daisies. I don't think they need watering with cold water; there’s dew in there in the morning anyway, so it stays moist. Then it got completely dark, and I went to bed! Great autumn days: running around the garden, doing a bit of work, relaxing, playing computer games, and enjoying the apples.