acceptance

frost warning for tonight.

not much left in the gardens that will be hurt by frost so that is ok.

yet, i'm struggling with acceptance that the gardening season is almost over when it comes to what we have planted, what we will harvest yet and such.

we do not have a lot of cold winter crops in. nor will we likely ever have (because most of them Ma won't eat or use). silly to me, but i just try to work around what i can.

again, acceptance.

the tomatoes, well, most of them were picked and then buried to feed the worms. we'll likely have about 35 quarts of chunks put up (a normal year we put up 100-150 quarts of tomato chunks and tomato juice). c'est la vie.

onions doing well, fennel mostly picked and eaten, beets still need to be picked and put up, a few melons, dunno if they will be ripe or not, sure that a frost won't be good for them, hope we actually do not get that cold tonight after all.

rest of the things to do are mostly picking the dry bean crop when they get ready enough to pick. i'm trying to not leave much on the plants for long because of our cool weather and frequent rains. if i can get it picked before it rots or the critters get it then i'm doing well. this i can certainly accept. :) finding some new crosses again and that is fun and interesting. this won't be a huge crop, but the one i enjoy the most when it comes to long term satisfaction. i enjoy sorting (both the tactile and visual aspects) figuring out the new colors and shapes, etc. and it can go on throughout the winter when not much else is going on. i know i get this trait from my Ma as she loves to pick rocks on the beach and then sort them into various piles for her projects. i've been known to resort some just because...

the soup peas, i thought were a complete loss, but we had a few sunny days that helped at least keep the fungi from getting into the peas them- selves. the pods look bad, but the peas are ok. will likely give them a rinse and dry off after shelling them to remove any spores tagging along (or at least reduce the count a bit).

the challenge this winter is to convince Ma that we don't need to leave the gardens inside the fence fallow next year just because we had one trouble with the buckeye rot on the tomatoes. leaving the ground bare is not good IMO and i can plant a root crop like garlic or onions in those places and it will do just fine. besides our peppers, onions, fennel, beets, beans, etc. have done well enough (if you discount the groundhog feasting).

a few gardens to fiddle with, figuring out where to plant some garlic, still not too heavy work for me (the hand still needs time off to heal), some inspecting of the roof to finish up any remaining issues before the warrantee runs out, some caulking before winter, ... picking some morning glories before they spread, ... then soon enough winter will be here.

acceptance? i'm just not ready to be cold yet. by January i might get there...

songbird

Reply to
songbird
Loading thread data ...

Yesterday we had 95F temps, woke up this morning to a 10-15 knot north wind and 69F. Very brisk out as we surveyed our domain. Decided to take out a big, sprangly cherry tomato in the long bed and then move some sweet chiles from another bed into that one so we can prep the smaller bed for winter crops. Probably plant it in spinach and other leaf crops soon.

Move south bird, we're planting fall tomatoes tomorrow plus putting in some carrot and beet seed.

We had volunteer winter squash coming up all last spring and we cultivated them. Ended up with about a dozen acorn and other types of winter squash, ate most of them but have a few in a cold closet for later use.

Pitiful mater crop here, stink bugs hit us early than another big juice sucker bug came in. We got rid of most of them but our tomato plants were and are not producing well. Disappointed in the crop but c'est la vie, that's gardening.

I'm not growing anymore bulbing onions, to easy to buy locally grown Texas 1015Y sweet onions cheaply and it helps the local market garden farmers.

Living this far south we never leave ground fallow, there's always something growing. We just keep adding compost and composted cow poop and the gardens keep on giving.

My problem is partially paralyzed right leg and arm and a bad back from forty years ago. That's why my daughter gave me an Ames Garden Buddy cart that I can sit on and scoot along and I really like it and have used it enough that I may just ask for a new one at Christmas.

You'll take it in stride Bird, gardeners always do. Just keep grinning and ginning.

George, glad to have a cool day in sultry Houston, TX area.

Reply to
George Shirley

we'll have some sunshine this week for a change so i hope to be outside more. i'm sure i can find plenty of small tasks...

i've lived south and ended up spending too much time on the road travelling north to visit family. besides, there is water here though i must admit i do prefer it in unfrozen form.

the volunteer this year was the few melon plants i let continue in the lettuce/pea patch. they've taken over and continue to flower. i took out all the volunteer squash plants in that bed because if i didn't they'd do what their name says, squash everything else...

yep, plant a wide variety of things and then you won't be so put out when some of them fail.

when i can grow them from seed for free minus the labor/space then it is worth it as i desire a self-sustaining no-cash spent type of living as close as i can get to it (eventually much more along those lines than i am now).

...

it surely is not by my choice that this is contemplated. i'm a firm believer in green is best cover than to leave any thing bare, but Ma will spray and scrape and dig just because she likes it looking "tidy", but to me that is just wrong. no home for beneficial bugs when there's no cover. already i see more aphids coming on as more gardens are converted from perennials and cover plants to bare dirt or mulch and "crops".

my own bad back and injuries over the years certainly commiserate with you. some days i just do what i can and that has to be good enough. Ma is good that she doesn't complain or ride me when i say i've had enough. the hand thing is really annoying because i get to where i don't notice it and then something happens to injure it all over again. like last week when i went to catch a heavy door as it was opening/closing and used my injured hand and instantly swore and regretted it and in the process the door swung and hit the person who i was trying to keep it open for anyways. grr... pointless and stupid of me, but it happens.

oh yeah, we certainly keep a laugh track going here from the morning to the end of the day and in between. even with our minor conflicts and differences of opinion we still get along well (or i'd have never been able to stay, i am not a huge fan of continual large conflicts or arguing).

the important things are that we can always talk about this stuff even if we disagree and usually we can laugh or joke about our flaws and foibles. we know that in the end it isn't huge or that important. eventually we'll be worm food or cremated and then the world can get on with what comes next.

:)

we hope for a bit more sunshine today than this past week... i see it is a cloudy morning, i think i'll go back to sleep for a while. :)

i was glad to hear the other day about some younger relatives getting a place going, don't know the location or details yet.

songbird

Reply to
songbird

Where are you? It's still warm here in Baltimore so I don't think we have to worry about frost for a few weeks yet.

Paul

Reply to
Pavel314

Today we are being truly blessed, since yesterday afternoon we have received four inches of beautiful rain. All the plants are perked up, the retention pond behind our home is getting full again. Maybe able to nab a few bull frogs when the rain stops if the picky neighbors don't see me out there with my headlight and frog gig.

Just think, "Free Water," beats a big water bill at this time of year.

George

Reply to
George Shirley

Pavel314 wrote: ...

i'm in mid-Michigan, in a low spot called the Saginaw River Valley, very flat and mostly agricultural with some wooded areas here or there. we happen to be in a local depression too where the cold air and fogs settle (and heavy rains will flood in part).

it's been down into the 30s a few times already. we didn't actually get a frost that night. some of the trees are starting to get some color, other plants are shutting down (corn, beans, etc.).

songbird

Reply to
songbird

George Shirley wrote: ...

"tastes like chicken"

haha, do you have water wings in case you fall in? ;)

we get some rather large frogs that come into the gardens along the large drainage ditch. these could probably eat a mouse...

:) glad to hear you're getting enough rains down there. also glad to hear about the other rains in the Southwest from Odile, but i don't know if those will do much good in terms of irragation or water supplies for the large cities. still if it takes some pressure off ground water pumping from wells that will be a help.

songbird

Reply to
songbird

We're expecting 86 degrees tomorrow here in the Baltimore region. Last day of summer is going all out. It should cool down for the rest of the week.

Paul

Reply to
Pavel314

Pavel314 wrote: ...

raining here last night and today, warm enough for the next week, i'm hoping for another few weeks of non-frost weather to give some melons, peppers and some other things more time to finish.

winterizing projects are getting lined up. already knocked off the first and i hope the toughest of them.

songbird

Reply to
songbird

songbird wrote: ...

so glad i did these, it seems to have made a difference in how much air is able to push into the house along the West facing wall which gets the most wind.

snowing last night and today and it is sticking with the cold nights we've been having. first snow that's anything over a few sparkles.

it is a good thing i finished the last of the garden cleanup that i'd planned on doing for the fall last week.

today is 2nd day of the normal deer season, usually we are surrounded by gunshots for the weekend. i haven't heard a thing yet. there are a lot of deer around based upon the tracks we see when we go out for our walks.

i still have beans to sort through. all are shelled now. tons of interesting crosses. not sure how many are viable or useful until they get grown out and i don't have the space for this many. will keep enjoying the process that is for sure. :)

meanwhile, in techie land, must get a new computer ready because this one is showing signs of going out again. i hate shopping for techie stuff.

the new ISP connection is working out great.

150 times faster. so glad to be back to a reasonable speed for only a few more $ per month. i was spoiled rather early in that the university had a good connection to the outside world (even back in the mid-80s) so that every- thing since then has seemed rather yucky until the DSL line i had when i was in a neighboring small town. then i moved out here to the country when wireless was still a dream, no cable and satellite was four times more than what i could afford.

songbird

Reply to
songbird

We're looking at a hard freeze here by Tuesday morning. Had a light frost yesterday morning, sort of pinched the eggplants. Got a counter full of eggplant, peppers, and green tomatoes at this moment. Suspect we will pull the spring garden for compost tomorrow ahead of the frost. Chop it up and into the composter along with dried banana leaves from neighbor across the street plus a bunch of shredded newsprint. Should work well, did last time.

George

Reply to
George Shirley

HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.