Pulled Out the Garden

We got winter in one day. No easing into it this year. The leaves didn't even have a chance to fall. But I did chop the plants down to a few inches from the ground and piled them up beside the compost. I am mourning the vegetables that would have turned out beautifully had there only been a little more time before the frost came. I would have had so many more green peppers and the squash would have grown to a lovely size. Everything I harvested is now in the freezer except for the pile of green tomatoes which sit in paper bags all over the kitchen. I look out the kitchen window to a bare and stark backyard. I have a case of the gardener's blues.