It was a very satisfying harvest

that I had yesterday. The vines are started to yellow and the flowers no longer had the oomph they had had throughout the growing season. Granted it was the last day of summer yesterday and it seemed appropriate to pull the roots that had found a home in the dirt and harvest the hedgehog gourds that had come into the world these last couple of months.

I marveled at the uniqueness of each one as I pulled them from their food source - crazy the strength that was still there holding them to. And so strange in texture - softly bristly, yes, if gently held. But also I couldn't help but notice the feeling was somewhat similar to the encounter of a cactus, where very fine-like needles that, without gloves on,  find their way into the skin and are so very hard to see to then remove.... Thankfully gloves were in hand, on hand, for the harvest to progress. What a delight it was to set them all out to dry! I left a few on the vine as I liked how it looked on my red cart.....