A blush in the leaves, a crunch underfoot, and as good a reason as any to pluck your wool fashions out of the closet: fall is here with cool weather in tow! And while the savvy of our horticulturists means we have an exceedingly long growing window in the Ruth Rea Howell Family Garden, it’s time for the harvest to end and our green geniuses to make their way into planning for the future. In the meantime, we’re bidding a cheerful adieu to our one-acre vegetable garden as the area’s native tribes did before us, with knowledgeable preparation that almost anyone can take part in.

Even with temperatures dropping, the fun is only just getting into its swing. Our latest program goes by “Goodnight Garden,” and through October 28 it offers an opportunity to see off the last of our garden edibles with activities to suit autumn’s colorful changes. For that, we look to the Lenape people who once lived in this area year round. We’ll be hosting tried and true seed saving activities to help you prepare for the next planting, as well as cooking demonstrations to send off your late season harvest with a bang.
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It may be overcast and drizzling this morning, but that hasn’t put a damper on the Greenmarket staff’s ambitions! The produce tents are up and running along Garden Way until 3 p.m. this afternoon, and because I wasn’t able to get a preview up yesterday, I’ll just go ahead and give you a taste of what’s available in as short and sweet a format as I can throw together.

Fruitwise, we’re looking at piles of pears (both Seckel and Bartlett varieties) surrounded by Jonamac and Golden Delicious apples. For those sniffing out the last of the summer fruit pies or the first of fall’s confections, you’ll also find stacks of pecan, cherry, pumpkin, and peach pies making the scene. Further, those with a tooth for greens and salad toppers will want to peruse the mountains of beets, black radishes, arugula, purple haze carrots and Brussels sprouts.
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Fair warning, northerners: you’ll have to forgive me for bringing up the touchy subject of warm weather. I know it seems like I’m teasing your patience with the far-off return of shorts and sandals, food trucks, and musty coats gone to closet, especially with the chilly stuff still ahead of us; the leaves have hardly given an autumn shrug, much less an autumn change. But when it comes to New York’s official flower–the daffodil–even standing at snow’s door step is a good time to talk about next spring’s blossoms!

Actually, it’s the best of times.

On Thursday, October 11, the NYBG not only celebrates a Garden tradition that dates back nearly a century, but recognizes how that tradition finds new meaning in recent years. Daffodil Hill has remained the spring pride of this organization since the early 20th century, when thousands of white and buttermilk yellow blooms would wake to send off winter with carpets of sunny color. And they still do! Daffodils, being perennials, are a hardy lot that bounces back year after year, often with more flowers to boast than the spring before. In the years following 9/11, the species came to represent the resilience and beauty of the people of New York–so much so that Mayor Michael Bloomberg officially recognized the daffodil as the flower of New York City in 2007. As a symbol of remembrance, the daffodil has been planted in the millions throughout the five boroughs, brightening parks in Manhattan just as they bunch around street trees in Brooklyn.
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Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen