It's still summer. Put away your damn pumpkins.

How our ignorance of nature's rhythms ruins everything

Sand pumpkins can stay.
(Image credit: iStock.)

I remember going to the pumpkin patch as a child. It involved putting on fluffy jackets and boots, buttoned up against the autumn cold. Frost often sparkled on the ground on especially cold pumpkin-gathering mornings.

Growing up in a farming community meant our lives were tightly tethered to the seasons. Even though I didn't live on a farm myself, I knew its rhythms. We pickled green beans in July, canned peaches in August, made applesauce and apple butter in September. The summer's juicy garden tomatoes spoiled us for the winter grocery store versions. Foods were better in their season.

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Gracy Olmstead

Gracy Olmstead is a writer and journalist located outside Washington, D.C. She's written for The American Conservative, National Review, The Federalist, and The Washington Times, among others.