In the summer, traveling away from my garden makes me cranky. I might miss a small shoot of something, or the peak of a particular vegetable. The person assigned to watering in my absence might bail on me, or Iowa might flood. There is so much that could go wrong.
Lately, though, I’ve been on the road a lot, and there are many travelogues coming from the Eastern Seaboard. (OK, maybe not the actual Seaboard, but a heck of a lot closer to said Board than I usually hang out these days…)
The travel, combined with the shortened days, have resulted in an odd disconnection from the garden. I have not seen it in a week, because that was the last time I was home when it was light outside.
This occurred to me last night when I arrived home, after it was already dark and with the certain knowledge that I’d have to be out the door again in the morning before (all together now) the sun comes up.
I probably need to get out there with a flashlight. There was a hard freeze this past weekend, and I suspect there’s all kind of damage that I haven’t even seen yet.
But I have plans for the upcoming weekend. The weather is forecast to be not, well, terrible, and with a little layering action, I think I’ll be comfortable out there in the backyard for an extended cleanup. And there’s opportunity today and tomorrow to be home during hours that include light.
Fellow gardeners, you know what that means. Good light, decent temps and a list of garden tasks? There’s no option but to schedule a little time out in the plants, even if they’re on their last legs.
And in the meantime, per the randomly-placed pumpkins above, Happy Halloween. Just remember, kids…cavities are always scarier than garden clean-up tasks…
on Oct 31st, 2007 at 7:02 am
At this time of year, I never think of the garden as being on its last legs as much as that I’m getting it ready for the birds for winter. Some things have succumbed to frost already, but others are just entering that stage where they are good nibbling for the few birds who remain to tough out the New England winter with us. For me, the major clean-up comes in the spring, when the birds have had it and the plants are exhausted. Then, a bit of freshening up just before the new shoots arrive.
on Oct 31st, 2007 at 5:41 pm
I like Lydia’s philosophy at home, at work the students and I do the fall gardening routines. just had a trick or treating friend marvel at the flowers in my front yard and asked how I did such amazing things. I gave the plants credit for they have been neglected for several weeks.
on Oct 31st, 2007 at 6:09 pm
Lydia, I love that image — food for the birds!
Wayne, I love it when folks give credit where credit is so not due! LOL…that’s excellent.
on Nov 9th, 2007 at 6:13 pm
I have a very long list, started mid-October and the goal is to have everything crossed off by mid-November. I live in upstate NY and frost or even snow can be at anytime! My list probably includes the same things everyone else has but there’s some special things, too. There’s a plant I ‘baby’ and it’s the Hydrangea bush. I put burlap around it in the fall and coffee grounds to increase ph level to blue giant blooms in the spring. The bird feeders are make-shift built on the deck so I can see all the activity from the house and don’t have far to shovel to reach and refill it. I cut down all the perennials and try to have energy to divide plants. This is the 3rd year in a row, I’ve run out of energy!
on Nov 11th, 2007 at 6:42 pm
Cheryl, yeah — you guys can get hit hard really quickly and without much warning up your way. Thanks for sharing your list with us!