While Banjo Man is up on the mountain working on the cabin this Labor Day weekend, I’ve pulled out my zucchini plant (it gave me three zucchinis), my cucumber plant (produced one cuke), one of my basil plants (chomped on by grasshoppers) and the parsley (don’t need it any longer). I have clipped stalks of sage and have hung bunches of them to dry for winter.

I’m drying pears, which may or may not be successful. Stay tuned.

I’m slowly working my way through the freezer as I prepare to empty, defrost and shut it down in a few weeks. Same with the pantry fridge. The kitchen refrigerater needs to be cleaned, inside and out, and my outdoor grill will be taken apart and scrubbed.

I’ve learned not to wait until the final week to do these things. The freezer is always a challenge, but next spring it will be empty and ready for me to fill it up with meals again.

Believe it or not, we ate them all.

With gusto. And Stubb’s BBQ sauce.

This seems like a very long time ago:

I’m already looking forward to next year.