The temperature was predicted to get down to possibly 29 last night. We were in a Freeze Warning, the third in the past week. I didn’t cover the garden during the the last two warnings, but I decided I didn’t want to risk it last night. Covering the garden with blankets has never really worked well for us, given how windy it can get here. It also leaves you with tons of laundry to do.
I spent late Wednesday afternoon bringing in all the produce that still had the potential to ripen. There are tomatoes and eggplants in boxes in the garage. For some reason, you aren’t supposed to can tomatoes that have been through a hard freeze.
The Swiss chard is in buckets keeping hydrated until I can clean it, wilt the leaves, and freeze them.
Husband wants to make more pepper jelly from the red serranos, and will freeze the green ones.
The carrots will be better after a freeze, and our cold hardy spinach is good down to the low 20’s. Those can all stay in for a while.
The end of the garden is bittersweet but also a relief. Now comes all the work of taking up hoses, taking down bunny fences, removing spent raspberry canes, and trimming things up for winter. November through February are our least busy months, even with the holidays, as there isn’t any gardening to do except dream of next year.
What are your busiest and least busiest months? What would you use to cover your garden from frost? What are your fall yard tasks?
Trail Baboon 
I started taking in tomatoes to a few days ago. Mostly just so the task isn’t so overwhelming on the last day. We don’t have any frost warnings coming up, but it has gotten really chilly a couple of nights so I figure I might as well get on it.
In the spring when I plant my bales, I put up my tomato cages right away. Partly so that they’re there when I need them as the plants start to grow, but also so that if we do have frost, I can put sheets over the tomato cages and use clothespins to hold them on. Since I’m only talking about a couple of bales two sheets usually does it. The other plants and flowers in the yard… they’re on their own.
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Not sure if I can pinpoint a busiest month. Late April / early May is always quite busy because that’s getting the yard cleaned up and ready for spring and November is usually busy with the last push before holiday projects have to be finished.
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And good thing I pulled all the heirlooms yesterday. Went out the back door just now and discovered that half of the bale had dissolved/collapsed overnight and if the tomatoes had still been on the vine, the squirrels would have had a fiesta!!
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None.
None.
None.
And that’s a good thing.
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When Mom was still alive and I was trying very hard to make a good Thanksgiving for my family, I would have said November. Not anymore. I have been incredibly busy lately. September was chaotic, and the beginning of October has me whirling in circles so far. I’m doing it to myself though. I signed up for three classes, besides yoga, and it’s been fun, but it’s been a little too much. Right now, I’d have to say that September has been too busy this year. I’d prefer to slow September way down.
I brought my rosemary and succulents in this morning. My container gardens are still outside. The parsley, marigolds, and basil look so nice. I can’t bear to part with them. I put them in front of the garage door so if it gets too cold I can roll them in.
I’ve been in a purging mode since I lost Pippin. I’ve sold some things, donated other things, washed some windows, and started deep cleaning. I’m going to get new flooring, and I bought a new chair.
I had a tracheal video stroboscopy last week. It was uncomfortable, but not nearly as bad as I feared. I have scarring and thinning of my vocal folds. I also have GERD much worse than I thought. The regimen for the first 6 weeks is: NO CAFFEINE! No tomatoes, peppers, onions, or garlic! No carbonated beverages. No alcohol (no problem). There are other restrictions as well, but not drinking coffee is the worst. The listed veggies are pretty much the basis of my entire diet. What doesn’t start with onions and garlic? So I’ve been eating apples and squash. Today I’m going for my first therapy appointment. I couldn’t sing at all yesterday at our jam session. It just made me cough and wheeze. My vocal cords feel like toast again today.
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That sounds like a boring diet! But I hope it makes you feel better. Purging is a kind of ritualistic and helpful behavior that goes with grief. As a teen/young adult I used to take all the stuff that went with any particular boyfriend out to our burn barrel, then torch it all. it was so satisfying.
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Yes. After he died I took myself for a long drive over to Stockholm WI. I didn’t stop anywhere because I hadn’t slept at all, and I’d been crying all day, and I’m afraid I looked rather scary. Just drove. The next day I threw away eight used up dog beds. That felt pretty good so I took his kennel out of the living room and moved a small dresser down to take its place. Doing that caused me to move other things around. By the end of that day, my back was screaming at me, but I wasn’t crying and I felt pretty good. I’ve continued from there, albeit at a slower pace. I sold my mom’s comfortable chair and a half the other day, and I’m planning for the new flooring and the new chair. I still miss my little mutt though.
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Yikes.
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Rise and Shine, Baboons
May is my busiest month with gardening. Late September/early October take down month, so that also is busy. We are in the midst of taking down our decorative pots today. But in November I am removing my big vegetable garden, so that will reduce work. However, there are still many Master Gardener events in May. After the Houseplant Sale (this Sunday) my email is reduced to little correspondance! (Re: vegetable garden. It needs to be rebuilt. The gate is falling apart, as is part of the fence. I don’t want to do that much work anymore, and there are other spots to garden. So in November, my son and another guy will help me remove the garden which I will seed to Bee Lawn. The veggies will move to pots on the deck.)
December is no longer very busy, and I find the less I do for Christmas the happier I am with life in general. So we have a small Christmas tree, a minimal gift exchange and no travel to relatives’ homes.
Opinion about first frost: I cannot wait for this because it reduces allergies. Four years ago my son got married on October 11, the last nice day of 2020. The next day it turned frigid and wet after a prolonged and beautiful autumn. Then came the frost. Things this year are running about 3 weeks behind. I suspect that later in October this year we will have a sudden and nasty weather turn similar to 4 years ago just because it is that kind of year. It will be a shock, but it seems to be a new pattern after these weather systems — both wet and dry — get stuck over us for prolonged periods.
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Well, after the mad rush to get everything in before it got dark, it only got to 37 last night. This is a chard processing Saturday. It will be a good day to stay inside as the winds are coming back even stronger than last Monday. I have to drive to Brookings on Sunday to help out as Son is having knee surgery next week.
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Busiest months are September-October, and apparently my busiest day is today.
There’s the raking, of course, but it’s apparently good for the pollinators to leave the raking till spring, so I’m trying to get Husband to do that.
Fall yard tasks will include taking down political signs once the election is over…
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It seems every month is a busy month. It never stops.
Looking forward to getting past the election. I voted early. Planning to post a sign on the door that says “Voted early – please do not knock or leave campaign materials.” Helps to cut down on the repetitive flyers.
I’m assigned to my home precinct this year.
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