Shop Products
Houzz Logo Print
115pa

Almost Winter, Who is ready?

115PA
10 years ago

Today was a chilly but sunny day. Was able to put away my hoses, mow the lawn (really really the last time), plant my 75% off hostas and ferns from Lowe's (heh, woke up a few earthworms), threw the last of my peppers and immature squash to the compose, among other jobs. I must have 20 butternut squash on my porch...time to google recipes, and give away to my neighbors.

Parsley and Sage still going strong.

Got a few projects after a few good frosts - many involving stone walls that need some TLC. Need to wait for the critters to dig down deep first, yeah talkin' to you snakes.
Tonight should be the first hard frost for my area (PA).
With that, I can't wait for winter, dormant, a weekend day watching the TV with a fire and not feel guilty; watching the snow fall with no pressure to do this that and the other thing. And best of all, scanning the seed catalogs page by page, plotting and planning.

Comments (8)

  • MrClint
    10 years ago

    No down time here at all. Fall and Winter gardens are great because we don't have to water as much. Spinach and other greens are at their best through winter. Likewise for citrus, which kicks off this month with Bearss limes (right now), Meyer lemons and Kishu mandarins later in the month. Pomegranates are sublime right now as well.

  • ltilton
    10 years ago

    Still a lot of tilling-in to do, and the ground is too wet to do it.

    Most of the leaves havent fallen yet.

  • seysonn
    10 years ago

    We don't have anything in the forecast for frost yet but it is cold (40 to 52F0. all I have is leeks, parsley, onions , garlic and some herbs. Today I mixed some fall leaves into couple of beds and covered them with plastic, to keep them warm and the rain out. This can help the leaves break down faster.

    Nothing much to do. Waiting till FEB. to germinated some pepper and tomato seeds. I've got the light and most of the seeds I need.Also have the ingredients to make my own seed starter mix.
    Y'all take a break and enjoy the fire.

  • laceyvail 6A, WV
    10 years ago

    The garden is pretty much set for winter. The beets, carrots and turnips still need to be packed with more hay, but it's not been cold enough yet to do that. Savoy cabbages, to be picked in Dec and January, are covered with row covers as are lettuces and escaroles, and kale and collards. Cilantro and parsley will do well until it gets very cold. Leeks and spinach don't need covering. Nothing more to do except harvest through the winter.

  • pnbrown
    10 years ago

    I need to make a chicken pen and capture some summer-free chickens that think they can survive winter on their own.

  • sunnibel7 Md 7
    10 years ago

    Almost winter, almost ready. Need to pull out the bean fence and store it, get the manure spread and tilled, cover that with a little hay for the winter, plant some garlic, clean up the strawberry beds and give them a little mulch, and re-repair the high tunnel. If we're including chickens into the list I need to make a new light-weight pull pen for the 4 that I'll be keeping over winter and then I need to reduce from 6 down to 4. Otherwise the lawn is mowed, the garden structures and tools are all away, and everything that needed harvesting before hard freeze is in and put away, including most of the chickens. :)

  • theforgottenone1013 (SE MI zone 5b/6a)
    10 years ago

    I'm not even close to being ready due to my tendency to procrastinate. I've got to dig my garden beds and add 400 gallons of grass clippings to them. I've got to add about the same amount of shredded leaves to them. I've got to mulch my beds. To get the leaves I need, I pick up the bags of leaves that people put out to the curb (I don't have any mature trees in my yard) and shred them. I'm still waiting on my sunchokes to die down so I can harvest them, add compost to the bed, and replant them. There's nearly finished compost I need to screen. I've got to build a new compost pile. I've got to start some new leaf mold piles (actually they aren't piles, I use garbage cans with the bottoms cut out to contain them). I have to build a shelter for the semi-stray cat that hangs out at my house (technically its owner is across the street but the cat stays at my house for the most part). There's sod that I have to lay down as I recently moved a portion of my garden due to invading maple roots. I have a bunch of tree seeds that I need to plant (about a dozen different species). And my garage needs cleaned up, it's a real mess in there.

    Rodney

  • ticodxb
    10 years ago

    Our growing season started just a bit ago... although the temperatures are still in the low high 80s to low 90s and nights are mid to upper 70s.

    I actually should have planted seeds 2-3 weeks ago.. but I wasn't planning on growing anything this year. Then I caught the gardening bug and decided to just try out a few things.

    I finally successfully grew tomatoes last year so I will try some peppers and eggplants that I failed growing 2 seasons in a row. Will plant seeds tonight.

    I think I will grow a few cucumber plants... hopefully to get at least a few cucumbers, but to use them as aphid bait in hopes they will leave the peppers and eggplants alone. I will practice washing away aphids and spraying them with a soap spray mix (last 2 seasons the soap spray mix turned the leaves yellow and brown... even though I followed instructions the first year, and 2nd year I even diluted it more)

    I have these molds to grow cucumbers in that will shape them so when sliced they are heart and star shaped. The cucumber varieties I have are too big but at least if I learn to deal with aphid problems this season I might be successful growing the right cucumbers to use in the molds.

    And since I failed at growing flowers last year I will try some flowers. I really can't believe I failed at growing flowers. Some varieties like zinnia were described as very easy to grow but it wasn't working for me!