There’s a frenzy in my garden,
Squirrels can’t get enough.
Birds are looking frantically
For seeds and nuts and stuff.

The corn is dry and shriveled now,
A vine has reached the top.
Fading leaves are bending low,
And bright red apples drop.
– Jacki Kellum – 

I began writing the abovee picture book manuscript at least 10 years ago. I wrote those words while I was living in New Jersey, where autumn [and winter] comes much earlier than it does in Mississippi.

For years, I have established places in my gardens, where I can simply sit, look, and listen. I call those spots: “My Morning Chair.

 

On the day in October when I began writing Winter Comes Too Soon,  my yard was alive with critters preparing themselves for winter.

At that time, I was over 60 years old, and the title of the picture book occurred to me: Winter Comes Too Soon. At that moment, I was fully aware that the winter of my own life was also setting in. I asked myself: “Am I Ready for the Winter of My Life?” The answer was a resounding: “NO!” I am still not ready to be old, but in spite of that reality–

Winter Comes Too Soon

The monarchs moved to Mexico,
And geese are leaving, too.
The spider weaves a lacy web,
Her net is etched with dew.

Shadows creep across the lawn,
Beneath the harvest moon.
Everything in my yard knows
That winter comes too soon.
– Jacki Kellum – 

Mississippi has a long gardening season, and I am still working outside in my garden every day. My main objectives for now until the first frost occurs are as follows:

1. Get Another Load of Dirt and Spread It
2. Sow A Vast Amount of Wildflower Seeds
3. Set Up More Bird Feeding Stations
4. Check to See If My Birdhouses Are Ready for Spring

A Truckload of Dirt and A Promise

About this time last year, I added my first load of garden soil to begin creating what I believe will be my final Mississippi garden. Actually, the soil ithat I am adding is composted cotton seed  ahd lint–which is especially appropriate for me– in several ways.

I grew up in cotton-farming country, and I actually picked cotton when I was a child. As I said before, I wrote the previous manuscript when I was living in New Jersey, but part of my preparation for the Winter of my own life was to move back to cotton country. [‘The Monarchs Moved to Mexico…Winter Comes Too Soon.”]

I loved New Jersey. In fact, most of the people in New Jersey share my political values. But New Jersey was not home. Like a Virginian might long for the Shenandoah River, I longed for the Mississippi River:

Oddly enough, I am a Democrat, but I am also a Southerner. I am the most unbigoted person living in Mississippi, and yet, I never quit longing for the land of cotton [I grew up very near the banks of the Mississippi River:] While I was living in New Jersey, I had the Cotton Pickin’ Blues:

Cotton Pickin’ Blues.
Colored Pencil Drawing by Jacki Kellum.

Cotton Pickin’ Blues
by Jacki Kellum

There’s a brief, enchanted moment,
As the moonlight turns to day,
When the bullfrogs hoop and holler,
And the gators let them play.

And somewhere near that river,
While kids are very small,
A mama says: “It’s cotton time,
It’s cotton pickin’ fall.”

While I was living in New Jersey, my house was only 5 houses away from the Bay of the Atlantic Ocean. I lived in a highly desirable spot that was only 3 miles away from the beach, and yet, while I was living there, I repeatedly told people, “I love this spot, but when I die, please scatter my remains over the Mississippi River–in the land of cotton. That will always be my home:

Today is Memoir Monday, and I have written about my childood in cotton country several times. Cotton was a major player in my childhood, and the various stages of cotton’s growth determined my childhood calendar.

Growing up, my winters were slow and quiet.
My springs were an awakening time of planting and of hoping for enough rain to water the seeds and also hoping
that there would not be so ver much rain that the cotton seeds would rot.|
My summers were a time of growing and of fighting the weeds that might choke the young plants.

Autumn was the time of harvest. Cotton lint filled the air, and during the fall, tractors
pulling wagons lined the road. They were going to and coming from the gins. During the fall, my
life became the everyday business of picking cotton.

It is only appropriate that I am adding truckloads of cotton seed soil in my garden now, It is only appropriate that once again, I have planted myself in another cotton field–the place where I am planting my final garden.

From Dust to Dust – From Ashes to Ashes – All of Us Are at Least a Truckload of Dirt and a Promise

Another Parable of the Soil: Prepare Your Soil – Plant in Faith – Lessons from My Garden

Autumn Is the Time to Plant Wildflower Seeds to Bloom in Next Year’s Garden

As soon as I spread the next load of cottony soil, I’ll sow wildflower seeds. I have created a few posts about wildflower seeds. I prefer to sow perennial seeds. Perennial plants return every year. Annuals only last one season.

Sow Wildflower Seeds in Fall to Bloom in Next Year’s Garden

Eden Brothers has packaged wildlower seed mix for every state. Because I currently live near Memphis, TN, and because the Tennessee mix has more perennials, I like the Tennessee Mix:

Tennessee Wildflower Seed Mix

Wildfllower Seed Mix Especially Prepared for Mississippi

I love the ratty-natural look of wildflower gardens. Several times, I have said that I myslef am a wildlower–as opposed to a fine, long-stemmed tea rose. I especially associate with Black-Eyed Susans:

Church in My Garden – A Jacki Kellum Garden Journal Post for Autumn

Although wildflowers do not create the tightly-clipped manicured garden that some prefer [I do not like that look], the wildflowers are especially good for sustaining the birds, butterflies, and other wildlife.

I Garden for the Birds

The main function of my cold-weather  garden is to provide for the birds who elect to winter in my area.

Last winter was my first winter in this Mississippi garden, and quite honestly, I did not prepare soon enough for my birds. Quiite honestly, I had not seen many birds in my garden to that point, but as soon as a hard freeze hit my garden, I walked outside and saw a mockingbird.

Little shards of sleet fell upon the frozen ground.
A mockingbird greeted me at my back door.
Chittering chinks of ice filled the air.
Jacki Kellum Journal January 15, 2024

After that day, I launched a campaign to surround my garden with bird feeders, and since then, many birds visit my garden every day. And yet, my mockingbird is still the mascot of my garden:

Is My Mockingbird More than a Backyard Bird? Bird Symbolism

My New bird feeder in which I can serve both bird seed and suet cakes:

Flow a Foil Birdfeeder on Amazon

Kaytee Bird Seed & Suet:

Added later: My birds love this exact suet mix.

Assignment for  Memoir Monday

This post has been a bit of a circumnavigatous rambling, but I have woven several snippets of my memoir writing in it.  For lastweek’s memoir writing assignment, I asked you to list the things that remind you of home.

Let’s Write a Few Words about Our Childhood Homes

Over the years, I have made a list of things that remind me of home, and picking cotton always makes the list. Your list will not be the same as mine. We are different people. We have different memories.

For this week’s assignment, pick a word from your list and write about it. Write in stream of consciousness. Don’t stop yourself to edit until you have finished your thoughts. After that, you may edit your writing, but that is not important for this assignment.

Today, we are simply harvesting our pasts.