Fall Cleanup 2018

This is possibly the last yard tour post here for the year.  Everything is done growing, and the recent frosts have leaves looking like they are melting, so it is time to clean it all up for the year.  The burning bush, however, is peaking red before all the leaves fall.



Kate took care of the garden, bringing in a few onions, some oregano and a few catnip leaves.  She tilled the compost soil into the east garden and used hay to mulch the raspberries and strawberries.  We also added mulch to some of the flowerbeds.  With the wet fall, the late date and all the garlic we got from the last batch Kate decided against planting it this fall.


I emptied the right side of the compost bin into the garden and filled the left side with plants I cut down.  All the hostas and the lily of the valley by the garage had the string trimmer taken to them, just to help them break down back into the soil for next year.

Yard tour after the break:

Late September, First Frost

We got our first frost last night.  Today I brought in garage stuff that should winter in the basement and spent a lot of time doing yard cleanup.  I got rid of a few stump plants and cleaned up the pots, adding the dirt to the side of the house where it was getting low.  And I weeded the flowerbeds and garden quite a bit, and more than my back liked.  Everything is looking like summer is over, ragged and dying slowly, and it is.  No yard tour this time, just a quick update.

Last Look Around, 2017

We had unseasonably mild weather yesterday, the day after Thanksgiving, and I took advantage of it to get some outside chores completed.  Cleaning out the gutters, mulching leaves, run the lawn mower out of gas, test out the snow thrower, vacuum and put winter mats in the car, you get the idea.  This may be a last look at the yard and gardens for 2017.  I took these pictures before noon and you can see by the shadows how low the sun gets at its highest this time of year.  The wood has been scavenged from the roadside over the last few weeks for next year's fires.  More after the break.

Late October Cleanup

It is late October, almost Halloween.  We've cleaned up the yard some, and the gardens, but we're still waiting on the leaves left to fall.  Everything is on time, I'm just anxious to get everything set for winter since I know it is inevitable.  The hanging plants, front and back, have been tossed as well as some of the potted plants.  And I've mulched many of the poor looking hostas so far, frosts will kill the rest and the lily of the valley greens along the garage and I will mulch them with my string trimmer, too.  Leaves will be added eventually.

Kate got the west garden strawberries and herbs laid out with straw for the winter yesterday.






And in the east garden she got the garlic planted and covered with straw and a screen last weekend.  Also the other day she mulched plants and replanted some stump flowers to the garden for winter.  If they make it then they get replanted in spring.

Another look around the back after the break.

Fall Update

Last weekend Kate replanted the plants in the corner of the porch area.  They should now fit the space better, especially if we can keep the nibblers away.  The weekend prior she cleaned up the gardens.









The plants that are left here on the stump will be either replanted into the ground somewhere or end up in the compost bin.  I'd like to keep the purple grassy one but I'm not bringing it in over winter again.

Also last weekend, I emptied the left side of the compost bin into the east garden.  The soil needs the nutrients badly.  Very soon the garlic will be planted here.

Late September

I know I haven't been posting regularly over here this year, but I have been posting so that's good!  Today I did a lot of work outside before taking these pictures shortly after midday.  I trimmed the arborvitae out front and power washed the front of the house.  We get a lot of insects and spiders on the front of the house, and their excrement and webs really make it look dirty so I wanted to clean it again before it got too cool out and before winter.  Not ideal sun angles for pictures, but it's when I had the time so that's when it happened.

We really haven't paid a lot of attention to the gardens lately.  It seems to be managing just fine for now.  The strawberry plants are all still alive in the east garden, and I noticed a random tomato plant growing in there, too.  It's in the top left of the picture.


The west garden is, well, just is.  The onions are from a poor batch of seeds and the herbs are all alive still.  Before long it will be time to add the soil from the compost bin and clean them up for winter.


After the break is another yard tour.  It is autumn now and the plants are showing the wear of a long summer and recent dry spells.  This tour has commentary added to the pictures for context.  Come along, let's take a look at our yard and garden as it is now!

It's all after the break, go on, click it!

Garden and Yard, Winterized

This may be the last post on the garden site, at least for this year.  I've barely kept this site updated this year.  I was hoping that my wife would enjoy posting here, she did a few posts, but that has not happened.  I guess I'll just have to see what happens here next year.

The east garden got the last of our straw a week or so after the last post.  I had to get more so we could add some to the west garden.








We have more than enough garden space and have not been utilizing it to its fullest.  Time is a big factor, so is laziness.  No berries for us this year.

All leaves have been raked, mulched  for the flowerbeds or mowed into the lawn.  Gutters are clean, composted dirt emptied and deterrent spread for whatever has been shitting in my yard.  Only the gnome and a few decorative stakes have yet to be put away.  Some dead plants will have to be removed in spring, this fall has been so mild I let them continue on.

The last yard tour of 2016 after the break.

Late October

Yesterday, Kate planted the garlic for spring.  Covered so it stays planted.

We already mixed in lots of home made compost soil.  There are herbs still near the bottom.















The east garden is the same mess of non-raspberries and strawberries for the squirrels.







The stump flowers show the wear of summer and a frost.  The big one in back was uprooted and it's roots eaten.  The yellow ones died after the frost.  Others have been stunted by always being dug in by animals and being in pots.  Yard tour after the break.

Mild December

This pic was taken two days ago, on Friday.  Since then it has been overcast and wet, yet very mild.  As I write this it is almost 60º outside!  We'll see how this mild fall/early winter affects the garden.

End Of Season Pictorial

Yes, we have ignored this site for too long.  Not a whole lot has happened to report, but I have tried to keep regular posts going for our records.  Kate has been busy with school and life, I have been lazy - I haven't even posted much at my main blog.  I promise a catch-up post soon.

In the meantime, Kate harvested the parsley yesterday and spread hay over the garlic and some around the raspberries.  It has been an unusually warm October and now November so far.  The garlic started to sprout so we need colder temperatures soon or I don't know what to expect from it.  The garlic is still covered with the screen to protect from squirrel interference.







The winter onions or spring onions above it are meant to stay over winter, I guess.  I don't know the difference and I don't really get it and I don't think Kate does either, but we will find out in the Spring.  A friend from work and her husband recommended them to us.  They gave us some back in late August, if I remember right, and we were to plant them right away so they would be established before winter.  We must also be careful, I guess they like to spread.  I guess we'll see.  Nothing ventured, nothing gained.


Pictures of the yard and other remarks after the break!

Fall Flora Tour

After the break is a little tour of the plants in our yard this fall.  Nothing too exciting, just for future reference for us.  These pictures were taken this last Saturday.

Catching Up Before Winter

I had been without a computer for a bit so here are the last pics of the garden and yard for the year.

First, the lemon pepper plant being harvested before removal for winter.

And the burning bush peaking.

The garden and yard all prepped for winter.

Finally, the garden as it looks right now. We just came off 10 straight days of below freezing temperatures. Today and tomorrow are supposed to be wet and warmer, temporarily.

Barring anything unforeseen, this blog will be shut down until spring. Let's hope for an easy winter!

Compost Completion

Just pictures from today, blew all the leaves out of the garden and added fresh dirt from the compost bin.

Just Later

All has been the same with the garden, just later in the fall.  The only things producing still are the lemon peppers (prolifically) and maybe a jalapeno or two.  We have had the threat of frost, and some temps close to freezing overnight, but I don't think we've had that 'hard' frost yet.

Dig Dug Gardens

About a week after the last post Kate had a day off and she worked on the west garden.  She added dirt, compost and planted the garlic.  Since then, the squirrels have continued treating the gardens like their own little playground.  Daily she has had to check the garlic and strawberries, replanting when necessary and adding straw. 

The burning bush is finally showing how it got it's name.  After a good trimming this spring after the drought of last year, it is alive and well.  It started out quite overgrown and is probably better off.

Fall Is Here - Mid October Update

Last weekend Kate cleared out the tomato, cucumber and pepper plants from the west garden and potted the thyme.  We have yet to add more soil mostly due to the wet conditions.  It will dry out soon and we shall get more soil and compost added and Kate will get the garlic in for next season.

The east garden no longer has netting and the squirrels are having a ball digging around in the dirt and straw, as you can see, much to my wife's annoyance.

East Garden Update

We did a makeover of the east garden on Tuesday night.  On Wednesday after work we found that the squirrels had a heyday with the strawberry plants, as they have been known to do before, so Kate had to do a lot of replanting.  That made me not wait for the weekend and I stopped off after work today and got a bag of straw.  We use straw to protect the small plants and roots over these cool nights and ultimately winter.  In the spring we remove as much as we can and put it in the path between the gardens to inhibit weed growth.

Anyway, we got home tonight and amazingly the garden was untouched as far as we could tell.  Still, Kate put down some straw to maybe help keep the critters away by hiding the small plant sprouts.  And besides, we're probably not too far away from the first frost.

East Garden Re-Do

Last night we put some work into the east garden to get ready for next season.  It may be a little early, but that should give the plants some time to establish themselves after replanting.

 

 

Here is the final product, replanted and watered.  Also with bird netting in an attempt to keep the critters from digging in it.  It didn't work, Kate had to replant about half the strawberry crowns today after work and we lost a few.  Damn squirrels.

 

See the whole thing, start to finish, after the break!

Last Pics 2012

Barring anything unforeseen, this is the last post until signs of Spring.  Have a good Winter.

A Nice Day For Finishing Fall Clean-Up

Yesterday was beautiful, sunny and in the mid-sixties.  We got several things done outside, including cleaning up the yard and garden.  We did not get to the east garden, there are just dead strawberry plants to pull, that can wait until Spring.

Before

What is left is the thyme in the lower left and parsley atop and oregano below more toward the middle in the 'after' pic below.   All around them are garlic sprouts that will probably get covered for winter.  We have a little bit of usable hay left, the bottom of the package is rotting so that hay I will probably use to cover the earth in the right side of the compost bin, the side we aren't using yet.  If you take a closer look, you will see a strawberry plant that is growing in the middle of the right side here.  My guess is maybe a critter left part of a berry behind the trellis that was there all summer, and it actually grew?  I shouldn't be too surprised, the chives pop up in odd places all the time.