The Little Things Matter

It is the little things that count.  Today is my day at home and I have been busy!  

Pulled some great carrots from the garden.  Am drying some and made broth with the rest to freeze.  Brought in a few more tomatoes to dry.

Turned over half the large bed.  

Beginning a new berm.

Emptied the final flower pots and laid them to wash them.  A great time of year to assess the plantings and what went well and what didn't.  I used this time to poke out some more drainage holes in the ones that didn't quite drain right.

I cleaned all of my planting pots and utensils and stored in a trash bag in my cupboard.

What are you doing right now that will give us a headstart next spring?

What supplies/containers for next year's garden can we check clearance aisles for at our local stores?

What clutter in the garden shed needs junked? 

Can things be washed, dried and stored now for easy access this spring?

Random: Big Blue Stem, Old Cars and Compost

Big Blue Stem Experiment...Seeding out.  It seems like years ago that I began some organic Big Blue Stem seeds in an attempt to reintroduce it in a small meadow area and in my yard.  What once filled the plains of the Midwest has become an ornamental grass.  I have learned that it takes a LONG time to get these grasses established.  I've used different spots, soils and containers with my container grass doing the best.  Now I need to decide how, when and if to transplant this grass.  How do I use it as nursery grasses to help new seeds grow.  When do I harvest the seeds and how do I store them?  Lots to think about.

The Sweet Potato vine has captured the old toy car that I claimed as my inheritance from my Mom.  I remember how proud as a little girl I was dragging it home with my Dad.  It was a great toy for girls for years and years.

Trimming and piling pumpkin and squash vines, annual plants and other organic matter to amend my large bed.  Egg cartons, toilet paper tubes, junk mail and coffee grounds are hidden in here somewhere.

Roadside trees.  Picture of endurance in a land of extremes.

Wrapping it Up~ Getting it Ready

The last few tomatoes are finishing ripening as the nights are getting down below 40-50.  My perennial grasses have pushed up their seeds and the flowers are ready for break.  Now is the time for fall irrigating and preparing.  My pumpkin vines have taken over several beds (without much to show for it) and my tree is dropping leaves.

So now is the time to wrap it up and get it ready.  My beds and gardens that is.  Need to do:

1.  Prune my perennial flowers.
2.  Pull annuals and add to compost and beds.
3.  Pull tomatoes and zucchini and leave on beds.
4.  Harvest final carrots and potatoes.
5.  Leave butterfly bushes and Russian sage and perennial     grasses to overwinter. 
6.  Get mulch and straw bought and ready to add to flower beds and under trees and shrubs.
 
7.  Still watering trees and shrubs and lightly watering hostas as they go dormant.
8.  Dump my compost bin onto the beds.
9.  Add horse manure to raised beds and deeply water them in.
10.  Add lots of leaf litter for the birds at the back of my yard.

11.  Clean out garden shed for spring.

11.  Clean out all bird baths and feeders with a bleach mixture.


 

Survive and/or Reproduce

Nebraska's drought has been sudden and extreme.  Thankfully, I great beds that helped our water use.

However, I have been out pruning out the plants not producing such as the zucchini and squash plants that only carried flowers.  My last pruning of my tomato plants seemed harsh as I cut off the top new growth and new blooms so that my plants could focus on finishing the fruit that is already on. 

Shrubs and trees are receiving the water so that they will weather the winter.  My last tree standing is going to have to be cut down.  Decisions on planting new shade trees are difficult as I consider our water as well as the forecast for the winter and next summer.

All of this to say that this summer has been a reminder that there are times that plants and animals have to focus on survival and stop or slow down reproduction.  

New growth is slowed as resources are very carefully guarded and preserved.  Going dormant early is one strategy.  

Maybe that is what is sometimes needed in our lives.