The harvest is soon upon us, but in our neck of the woods, I’m sandwiched by eager neighbors who’ve taken their gardening to frighteningly ambitious levels. To our right: a recently plucked watermelon grew in a sling (for support) hanging off a deck. Tomatoes also abound, courtesy of a Topsy Turvy that caused great alarm when it initially appeared to have dried up. To our left sits a garden of stalks, which has produced at least one squash. In the middle of all this, of course, is our overgrown jungle, which contains more weeds and elephant plants than anything else, and certainly nothing edible.

Perhaps keeping up with the Joneses will force us to rethink things next year.

Michael Pollock, Editor-in-Chief, Out & About