Frustration

Remember these cleared out and clean garden beds I spent last Sunday working on?

3 days later I came home to this:

The pictures are blurry but you get the idea that the beds are disheveled and torn apart.  That's thanks to our neighbor's lawn service.  Remember last year when they blew all of our neighbor's leaves into our yard?  Andy had politely talked to them about the problem and we thought it would no longer be an issue.  We were mistaken.

This year they blew leaves all over our yard, into my garden beds and blew the straw all over the place.  Needless to say I was extremely frustrated.  They didn't attempt to clean the leaves out and left the garden as is, they didn't even try to recover the beds with the straw.  Luckily they were still at my neighbor's when I got home and I said something to them.  They tried to act like they didn't know they did it but promised to come clean it up the next day.

Well they didn't show up, so Andy called and they finally came Friday.  When I went out on Saturday to check out their work I realized they cleaned up the leaves but at least a quarter or more of the straw was gone and they tromped all through the beds.  We don't walk through the beds, the point of raised beds is to NOT walk through them for loose soil.  It was obvious they has walked over the beds and compacted the soil.  I was so mad I could have cried, actually I did.

I ended up having to rake back all the straw, take a garden fork to loosen the soil, rake and even out the soil, and recover with straw.  I had to dig up all the garlic I planted and replant it.  I spent an hour and a half fixing their mess.

Preparing for Winter

This past weekend I finally had some free time when the weather was cooperating so I started to clean out the garden and get it ready for winter.

This was the bean, asparagus and random tomato bed with the failed lettuce bed in back before cleaning.

This was after dead plants had been removed, weeds pulled and asparagus cut back.  I topped the asparagus with a nice thick layer of straw and the rest of the bed with a thin layer to help ensure that I don't lose soil this winter to displacement from rain, snow and ice.  The back bed was covered with a layer of leaves from the tree above it.

This is the tomato, eggplant potato bed before being cleaned out.

This is the bed afterward.  The garlic was planted in this bed after it was cleared and so it has a thick layer of straw like the asparagus while the rest has just a thin layer.  As you can tell with the end of daylight savings, and it getting dark much sooner, I was pushing it to get the job done before dark.

Colorful Leaves

These leaves from our Maple are long gone but they were beautiful while they lasted!

Dear Mother Nature

Dear Mother Nature,

I really enjoyed the mums when they were in full bloom but they have died and I trimmed them back so that the second crop of buds can bloom.  This week the burning bush and maple have turned beautiful, brilliant reds.  They are gorgeous!  By the time the mums have blooms again the tree and bush will be leafless.  I was hoping that somehow next year you might be able to coordinate them to be in color at the same time.  I really wanted a picturesque post card perfect Fall picture of our house.  This year I will settle for a flowerless Fall picture but I hope next year might be a little bit different. 

                                Love,
                                     Vanessa

 Actually I think it's pretty anyways!

Volunteer Marigold

This marigold planted itself among the mulch outside one of our raised beds.  It's a great picture in contrasts, the last grip of Summer among the signs of Fall.

Annual Fall Outing

Since getting married every Fall we have made a trip to Shaw Farms and Rousters in Milford.  We pick out pumpkins and gourds at Shaw Farms in addition to checking out the farm animals and other local goodies.  At Rousters we pick up apples, cider and apple butter.  Unfortunately this is the last year that we get to go to Rousters since Saturday was their last day.

We even ran into my best friend, Lauren, and Mommy Morris at Shaw Farms

 

Our last ever purchase from Rousters.

 

Happy Fall!

Today is the first official day of Fall even though I like to think that Fall begins with the first day of September.  I am ready for anything and everything pumpkin flavored, crisp apples, pumpkins on the doorstep, mums, gourds, dried cornstalks, cool breezes and colorful leaves.  If you can't tell this is my most favorite time of the year!

Fall Garden Chores

Completed
*Pull out all over grown marigolds
*Plant new lettuce seed (I'm might be a bit late, whoops)
*Thin out Kale seedlings
*Pull dead and dying squash vines
*Plant cabbage seedlings

To Do
*Clean out weeds
*Plant Garlic
*Find anything to put in empty spots
*Amend Soil
*Put in Garden Bed Stakes

Thinking About Fall

While we are in the dog days of Summer it seems too hot to start planting for Fall but it is definitely time to start.  In fact the kale, cilantro, and dill below were planted the first week of July.  I have also planted some lettuces and need to get going on planting more weekly.  My Summer lettuce has been bitter so I should just pull it and replant now.

Colder Weather

My row cover from Pinetree Garden Seeds came last week and I was really happy with the product.  Pinetree was the only company I found that allows you to order by the foot.  I only needed 20 feet and many of the prepackaged row covers had 50 feet or more.  The row cover has 2-4 degrees of frost protection, transmits 85% light and porous to water.  According to the catalog supports aren't needed and it won't crush delicate plants.

This weekend I put it over what's left in my garden.  We had our first serious frost since the temp dropped to 24 degrees.  I attached the cover with lawn fabric staples and didn't use any hoops or support.  The fabric protected everything perfectly. 

This Fall I am experimenting with the row cover to see how long it will protect the lettuce.  If it proves to continue to work well next year I might invest in support hoops and clips so as to not damage the cover.  I have already pulled the cover up because this week we will be experiencing an Indian Summer with temps in the 60s.  There are holes from the staples and I will only be able to put it back on and off a few more times before there will be too many holes.

Fall Color

One of the reasons Fall is my favorite season is the color of the trees.  This year we have had a drought and are currently about 8 inches below the average rainfall.  Unfortunately this has affected the Fall foliage and we haven't seen as many brilliant colors.  While I haven't seen as many colorful trees there have still been a few out there.

Fall Decor

In the Fall I love to decorate by bringing natural Fall elements indoors.  Here are some of the ways I make our house reflect the season.

Fall Yard and Porch Decor

I love seeing all the pumpkins, mums, gourds, cornstalks, cabbages and straw in people's yards and on their porches.  The feeling of Fall is finally in the air!

Pumpkin Carving

This is the week of Halloween and like many of you we will be carving the pumpkins that have been sitting on our front steps for the past two months. I haven't decided whether to free hand it or use the templates and kit I bought last year after Halloween for super cheap. For those of you who don't want to free hand your design or buy the pricey kits you can go here at Martha Stewart's website to print free pumpkin carving templates and directions. Happy Carving!

Exciting!

This is our 7 day forecast and I am excited!  Cooler temperatures and some much needed rain.  I am a little concerned about it getting cold fast since we have dropped from 90s to 70s over the weekend and are dropping into the 60s quickly.  I won't complain because last week we broke a  record high but I hope Mother Nature doesn't decide to skip Fall altogether.  Here's hoping that my lettuce takes off in this weather!

On My Windowsill

This picture of my windowsill illustrates perfectly the oddity this Fall.  It's finally Fall but today we will tie the all time record of 92 degrees and might even surpass it.  Here in Cincinnati we are also 5 inches below the normal rainfall.  I am ready for the cool crispness of Fall and the crops that it provides.  I am happy that my basil, tomatoes and other items are still doing well but I'm ready to move on.

First Day of Fall!

It is officially the first day of Fall!  My favorite season and I am excited!  I just wish Mother Nature got the clue and stopped giving us 90 degree weather in September.