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 August

As we get toward late August, I noticed I hadn't posted here in a while.  Here's the gardens now, yard tour after the break.  No writing, just pictures.

Garden Redo

Last weekend Kate weeded the area around the stump and this weekend it was time for the garden.  She spent hours out there weeding, trimming raspberry plants, and moving ALL the strawberry plants from the east garden to the west garden.  This way we can add compost to the east garden this year.  Most all the hay has been put into the center path for weed control there and netting has been placed over the west garden to keep critters from un-planting that which has just been planted.  The garlic is on top and there are herbs on the bottom with strawberry plants planted wherever they fit.






There's another yard tour after the break.  She also spread mulch in the flowerbeds which makes it look much nicer until I get some plants in there.  Hostas and lily of the valley are coming up.  And in front, where my wife put tulips a few years ago, they finally have a few flowers!  Too little too late, though.  They go downhill after spring and then is empty for the rest of the summer.  The last picture, I plan to replant that area with new plants in a couple weeks.

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.

The (not quite) End-of-Season Update

Last weekend, Mr. Scoakat retired the tomato plants to the compost bin. I would have done it myself, but the BIGGEST SPIDER ON EARTH was living in a web between the two plants. So, naturally, I couldn’t go anywhere near that side of the garden! Mr. Scoakat says he didn’t see the spider. I say the spider saw Mr. Scoakat and decided it was in his best interest to relocate.

Once I was convinced the spider was gone, I was able to get close enough to plant garlic, harvest the carrots and some thyme, and remove the last basil plant (which provided a few final sprigs before meeting its end).

Between the garlic I purchased and the head I saved for planting from this year’s harvest, I had enough to plant two rows of 15 cloves. As you can see in the picture below, the garlic is covered by one of the awesome garlic/strawberry covers Mr. Scoakat made a few years ago, and so far, it has not been disturbed.

The carrots ended up in beef stew. And the beef stew ended up really tasty! The last time I made beef stew (probably at least 15 years ago) it was not great. The thing is, the beef stew is beef stew. The recipe I used 15 years ago cannot be that different than the recipe I used last weekend. Lesson here – I am a much better cook now than I was 15 years ago! 

Did you notice that small green thing behind right side of the garlic cover? Just in case you didn’t, here it is again.

Yes, that small green thing behind the garlic is a tomato plant that started growing from seed… all on its own. Because when I try to grow tomatoes, I get nothing but trouble (and the BIGGEST SPIDER ON EARTH), and when I’m not even trying, they grow on their own.

I am being mocked by a tomato plant.

Garlic Scape Pesto! Tomatoes, More Strawberries... More Weeds

I've grown a hardneck variety of garlic the last few years. In previous years, I've cut the scapes off and thrown them in our compost bin. This year, I decided to find a recipe to use the scapes. The recipe I found, garlic scape pesto, is so good. If you like pesto and you really like garlic, you should try this! I opted to use half basil and half garlic scapes, and only used lemon juice, no rind.



The tomato plant in the bucket seems to be doing better than the two in the garden. This might be worth paying attention to. Buckets are ugly, but I'll put up with ugly if it means a good tomato crop!






Not much else to report on. We're still getting a few strawberries here and there. And I spent another hour pulling weeds! I'm beginning to think they might be my most successful crop this year...

Fat Green Bug

Fat Green Bug, dead center facing away.

Kate did some cleaning up of the garden this morning, what is left of it.  In the west garden (top) we have cucumbers growing and two pepper plants on their right, one is doing better than the other.  Then a couple herbs to the right of those.  In the east garden the squirrels still try to get at the strawberry plant through the chicken wire so mothballs are still a must.  She also trimmed up the parsley, bottom right of pic, and gave the raspberry plants some support.