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Lighting a Fire

October 28th, 2014

There’s nothing that will light a fire under a gardener like seeing SNOW in the 10 day forecast.  That will turn the slow rhythm of fall cleanup into a frenzy of work, at least it does around here, perhaps I’m the only one.
Fall cleanup 1
Yesterday was spent madly mowing and mulching leaves, planting a few remaining perennials and emptying all the pots of summer annuals. The soil from these containers don’t get composted yet, I’ll put it into a few long planted boxes, add a sprinkling of kelp and mineral mix, then seed cilantro, lettuce a few other herbs for winter harvests.
Fall cleanup 2
It’s looking rather bare outside now, no pots over flowering with blooms. Sometimes in the winter I take the pots and fill them with pine greenery and grapevine stars, I probably won’t get around to doing that this year. There is definitely something therapeutic about cleaning out the containers and all the remains of summer from the garden. It’s a bit like cleaning out the closet, you feel lighter when you’re finished. Now I can spend my winter dreaming about the creative things I can do with containers next year!

Any snow in your forecast yet?

7 Comments to “Lighting a Fire”
  1. Laura on October 28, 2014 at 7:26 am

    Well, today in the greater Niagara Falls area, it’s supposed to be unseasonably warm at 75 degrees!! But but Halloween, it’s going to be high of 30’s, so I have to pluck the last onions and carrots from the garden before then. Lots of work to do!!

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  2. PennyAshevilleNC on October 28, 2014 at 8:19 am

    We have enjoyed a longer warm period this fall and now frost is due for the weekend. It’s true, I was thinking this morning how to divvy up the chores to have the hoops ready Thursday. I plan to bring in my parsley and see how it goes as a potted plant. Does anyone know how that would work?

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    • Susy on October 28, 2014 at 10:22 am

      I was just talking to a friend last week who digs up her parsley, puts it in a pot, and keeps it as a houseplant throughout the winter. I usually have a container of parsley that I plant just for winter along with a few other herbs as well. Parsley seems to do quite fine as a houseplant.

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  3. Mary Schier on October 28, 2014 at 10:13 am

    No snow in our forecast yet, but things turned decidedly cooler overnight. I emptied my containers during the good weather, but still have to scrub them up and store them for winter.

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  4. Nebraska Dave on October 28, 2014 at 3:29 pm

    Susy, We are a couple weeks past the first frost of the season. Old Jack came a couple days before the October 15th first frost date. Then of course it warmed up and hasn’t frozen since. My garden was already totally cleaned up and the water barrels drained. There just a few minor things that need doing but it doesn’t really depend on the temperature. I do have to spend a day on the poor man’s living patio cleanup but it’s pretty much just dump the hanging and container pots in the compost pile. I’m ready to start planning for a new year.

    Have a great garden clean up day.

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  5. Megan on October 28, 2014 at 4:50 pm

    There was a freak snowstorm here in the beginning of September, it was horrible! But luckily since then up until this last week it has been pretty normal, even unseasonably warm. My garden is pretty much wrapped up now and I’m ready for winter, even if I don’t want to be!

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  6. Emma on October 30, 2014 at 6:12 am

    I become a little sad when I should clean the garden because then I know that the summer is gone. But the winter might be also great season if you have the right plants which would be OK with the cold weather. Regards!

    Reply to Emma's comment

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This is a daily journal of my efforts to cultivate a more simple life, through local eating, gardening and so many other things. We used to live in a small suburban neighborhood Ohio but moved to 153 acres in Liberty, Maine in 2012.

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