Avant gardener:

  • November 21, 2011
  • 257
                        
Summary: Late fall chores give us an excuse to get outdoors to enjoy the last warm days. It won’t be long before the cold and the snow arrives making it more difficult to tackle outdoor tasks. It’s probably safe to store the mower for the season but keep the boots close at hand for wandering about the yard and garden. I can’t believe it is November already. In fact, November is almost over. It’s been a nice fall. We were greeted with warm temperatures that allowed for fun and chores that are sometimes hampered when summer goes straight into winter. The colors of the season were glorious and while someone will always have to say they were prettier in Maine or Rhode Island or Pennsylvania….I wasn’t in Maine, Rhode Island or Pennsylvania so I’ll take Ohio’s palette as she unfolded it. With the trees bare and the leaves somewhat maintained I still hear complaints from city folk that have the arduous task or raking or blowing their leaves to the curb strip, oh the humanity, and then having to wait, can you imagine, wait for a municipal truck to come suck them up. There is always the option to drag tarp after tarp of the dried foliage to the compost bin and have to wait for decomposition to take place. As you are waiting for the big, stinky municipal truck, some of us are waiting for the decomposition to begin. Mowing them and leaving them where they lay is another option. Driving through town and seeing dozens of black, plastic garbage bags full of leaves at the end of driveways just made me cringe. It would be wise of municipalities to simply not accept bagged leaves, especially when they have the stinky, sucking truck option. Now is a good time to walk around and look for dead wood or disease in the tree branches. If you notice any, prune them out now and get rid of them in the fire pit. In my haste to enjoy the last warm days of the season I completely forgot to empty the rain barrel. Fortunately it is a good idea to continue to water woody plants so that they enter their dormancy well hydrated. I can use this water for just that. Once the barrel is empty I’ll put it in the barn until spring. Spinach and peas are two early spring crops that by March or April can safely be planted. Prepare a bed for them now and you’ll have a head start. You can actually plant the spinach seeds now and they’ll be one of the first green sprouts of the warming soil along with the weeds. If you still have potted mums don’t throw them away. If composting is not an option place them in the garden. Come spring you can cut them back and place them in pots or in borders to enjoy again in summer and fall. Be sure roses are protected from winter by mounding up 6-12 inches of soil at their crowns. Mulch the strawberry plant, too to keep the roots warm. When you are sure you won’t need the mower for any fall tasks take it in for service now so you won’t have to wait in spring when the shops are booked. My mower has one of those silly safety switches so it stalls when there is no weight on the seat. Throw a brick up there and let it run until there is no gas unless of course you want to sit there until it runs dry. Feed the birds and the squirrels. They have it rough as winter approaches. Some seed and a little dried corn will keep them coming back. They’re enjoyable to watch and they don’t mind coexisting with us at all.


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