Did the frost get your garden? My basil bit it. So, too, my melons. I didn’t discover the damage until Saturday, when I returned from a week-long workshop in San Francisco. For five days, I spent dawn to dusk (well, almost) learning about and baking artisan bread at the San Francisco Baking Institute.

Wheat is not something I’m likely to plant myself, but I have new appreciation for those who grow, mill and bake it. It’s earthy, but complicated stuff.

With visions of baguettes and batards still dancing through my brain, I practically dropped my suitcase at the door when I arrived home, and headed out to the garden. I’d missed my summer fling.

But as I wandered through the sea of peppers and tomatoes, and lamented the demise of more tender plants, I also felt just a twinge of relief. Don’t tell the tomatoes, but I am ready to turn my attention from growing and canning to baking bread and apple crisp.

Yeah, I know. By February, I’ll be dreaming of red (or purple) tomatoes again. And how much basil to plant. And how to keep those pesky potato bugs away.

The seasonal cycle of gardening seduces me over and over.

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