Well, I've hung the fall wreath on the door and kicked the impatiens to the compost pile. Mini pumpkins and dried sedum cuttings grace the hanging baskets on our now-birdless front porch, and I haven't worn a short-sleeved shirt without an accompanying sweatshirt, sweater or jacket in two weeks. I think it's safe to say my summer garden is officially down for the count...sort of.

It's been an interesting gardening season (weird weather this summer), but all in all, my family's 2009 summer garden yielded a great deal of great basil, jalapenos galore and fantastic bell peppers. Our tomatoes got off to a freakishly slow start thanks to the uncooperative weather, but the fruit finally kicked in by August. The plants don't look their best anymore, but we've still got a number of greenies on the vine. I've now got one eye on them and the other eye on our local weather forecast so I can harvest what I can before the reported upcoming frost hits.

Looking back on what worked and what didn't work in our garden, I'd say our biggest harvest success came from our dahlias, which my 4-year-old helped plant and grow in a few containers. We used the flowers as patio décor, as well as an ever-blooming source of cutflowers for inside the house. We'll be growing those puppies again next year!

We also had a number of "harvest" surprises, including our unexpected plucking of a zillion and eight Japanese beetles off five shrubs in the front yard. These lil' flying, plant-eating jerkies eventually found their way to the back of the house, where they turned our roses into an open buffet, attacked our strawberry plants and actually chewed on some basil. (Bah!)

Meanwhile, our dreams of front porch enjoyment got pooped upon - literally - by a brood of birds [Pause] ... and then again by a brood of birds. The mess this fertile swallow family left behind on our porch was disgusting, but our kids enjoyed their front row seats for this nature-in-action show from our dining room window. I will say that even with all the poop, it was still a neat experience. (But one we don't plan on going through again next year...those birds better be prepared for battle in 2010!)

Garden disappointments for the summer included our uninspiring strawberries (that were mostly enjoyed by the jerkie beetles) and our fizzled-out cilantro, which went to seed long before we got our first ripe tomato...for the second season in a row. (Note to self: Just skip the cilantro next year.)

I'll continue to harvest whatever extra veggies I can get until frost, but other than that, I'm ready to move on to more current-season gardening activities: Namely planting bulbs! In fact, I've just started a new group at The Garden Party, called "I'm Planting Bulbs!" Who's with me?! (Note to birds and beetles: You're not invited!)