I love to garden. There is nothing like spending the day outside in the garden or even inside the greenhouse. I especially love the smell that greets me as I open the greenhouse door. There is no words that can describe that earthy plant smell.
Yesterday was a bit cooler so it was the perfect weather to do some clean up. I took the string weeder out and trimmed around all the beds, around the greenhouse, around the well and finally under the picnic table. I even moved all the clear plastic from the area I want to place the shed. In the progress I uncovered a cute garter snake. He turned upside down to show his belly (playing dead) but I could tell he was watching ever move I was making. I used the string trimmer to remove the weeds being careful not to hurt the little ( not so little) guy. He finally decided I was a little too close and took off running in the opposite direction. I recovered the now trimmed area with black plastic to help prevent the weeds from growing back and to give the snake a place to hang out. Having a garter snake that close to the greenhouse helps to keep mice from destroying seeds and seedlings.
We have not had a good rain for awhile so next I watered the whole garden, the bucket garden and inside the greenhouse. The winter potatoes are just starting to come up. They will be moved into the greenhouse before the first frost. The carrots didn’t germinate as well as I hoped but there are a few growing.
I trimmed all the dead leaves from most of the beds and finished pulling dead plants. One bed was almost bare – it still has three cabbage plants and the rosemary plant. I decided to work around those plants and prepared the bed for winter. I added organic fertilizer on top of the soil and topped that with a thick layer of year old leaves, followed by a thick layer of compost and topped that off with a layer of straw. Once the weather turns cold I will protect the rosemary plant by placing a plastic hoop tunnel over the bed. The bed will settle during the winter but come spring I should be able to push back the straw and plant the seeds or transplant the seedling into the bed.
I turned the compost bin and finished weeding three more garden beds before calling it a day. Of course, I still had to harvest things. I picked a bunch of tomatoes, two cantaloupes, two long cucumbers, some okra and three butternut squash.
After dinner I washed the tomatoes and cantaloupe. The tomatoes will go into a freezer bag in the morning but the two cantaloupe were opened this evening. I froze two quarts and the rest is in the fridge for some healthy snacking. I plan on making another batch of relish from the cucumbers and the butternut squash are curing in the wire basket on the kitchen counter. They need to be in a warm area with air circulation for 10 to 14 days to cure and than they can be placed in a dark dry pantry were they will last for 3 to 4 months. If I had more I would freeze them also.
Bill and I also put up the last two long trim boards on the enclosed porch. The next step will be to clean the area and decide about the flooring.
There were still animals to be fed, dishes to put away and three loads of laundry to finish before I finally called it a day. Love days like today!
DIY with Kathy! 