Well then, it is November already, and that means that I am sitting right in the middle of the "winterizing" process. There are all manner of things to do, if only the weather would co-operate. It is a case of working in-between showers. It is usually rain but we had an enormous hail storm a couple of days ago. Those hail stones were about the size of baby lima beans. What a shock THAT was...and what a noise! The coming winter is breathing it's icy breath down the back of my neck as I am hurrying to get as many of the jobs done before it begins freezing on a daily basis. I need to harvest the last of the greenhouse veg and I need to do some planting and transplanting, make some bird food suet balls and paste, pick up some fresh cow manure and spread it over the empty beds and cover them and to dry veg and flower seeds for planting next season. It all gets a bit hurried at this time of year, so I just start working the list of to-do's off as systematically as the weather will allow. The first thing that I wanted to do was to buy some new plants and tuck them into the ground. What I managed to get hold of from a grower was a new sort of blueberry--the Vaccinium 'Pink Lemonade'. The nice folks were wholesalers only, but made an exception and sold me three small plants before this sort is even being offered in Nederland. I was surprised and delighted to get them. These blueberries are different--they have a pink colour and are supposed to be sweeter in flavour. Here is one of those little jewels, all planted in a hole filled with azalea soil and covered with a blanket of pine bark chips. They are on their own now. I drove out to a small village near here to a place that the lady who took over my "new garden" recommended. She is a horse person and stalls her horse there. There were more than 40 horses there and a small herd of cattle. I really like farm animals and the smells of such a place. The horses looked so alert and interested except this one. She stood there with her head in the sun and seemed a bit lazy while basking. I am so angry with myself for not taking a foto of the huge pile of manure that was there. It was like a great sand dune there. Ach wel, there was work to be done and my hands were a bit dirty. If I ever go back, I will try and remember to take a quick pic of it. It was impressive. Naturally it rained off and on while filling the plastic containers with the manure. Once filled, I took them back to the auto and loaded them into the back. I could get seven of those big trugs into the back. I will tell you--I had to cover each container with a plastic bag to try and keep the fragrance to a minimum. As was, the smell of fresh poop in the closed space of the auto cabin was almost overpowering. Can you imagine it? Once back at the lottie, I secured one of the club's carts to transport them on. I covered all the newly cleaned plots with the manure and then covered it with the debris gathered from plants that I have cut and removed from the flower garden and corn patch. Some days it rained during the entire period of daylight, so at home we could make suet balls and coconut shells. I squeezed and kneaded that stuff until my hands and forearms ached. Here is the finished product. Another thing to do was to harvest the last of the greenhouse veg. There were a number of toms and paprika's (capsicums). I let them rest at home for a couple of days before processing them. Some turned yellow, and their flavour changed as well. ....and then one day, it was all over. REALLY over. The long periods of gray sky and cool temps have sent the sap into the roots of the struggling plants, have turned the stems and leaves brown and they were beginning to crisp. There remained one, single red hanger-on....but this really was the very, very, VERY last tom of the season. 7 november....a record for us.
Sojerd, "winterizing" process sounds nice and I wish I can do this at least once. I know there is lots of work to be done but the feeling of the conclusion of a season and the preparation new season just sound good to me. While waiting for the new season to start there is the holiday season ... wish I could just experience this just once
Sjoerd, I am amazed at how much "tucking in" your garden gets. You do such a great job at buttoning it all up. Tomorrow is a clean up day for me, but it won't look anything like your when I am done. I planted one pink lemonade this year, too, but yours is much nicer and larger than mine. Kevin saw it the other day and mentioned maybe pulling that one wee little blue berry bush out there in the row UH HUH! just try it! No, really I told him I just planted it and it is supposed to be pink. Leave it be. We will see in 10 years or so.
Hiyah KK--Yes, I know exactly what you mean with not knowing what the changing of seasons is like there in the "tropics" where you live. When I spent long periods travelling in your area, I was quite aware of it..almost missed it--but not quite. I had no trouble with it but my partner was VERY aware of it. Now that I am back home again, I am again quite aware of the season changing, and it terms of gardening being aware of this and making plans and adjustments is all part and parcel of the gardening process. Aside from the gardening aspect of my life, I just like the changes--they are all different and now I actually look forward to the changes. I wish that you could experience this "phenomenon" at least once too. I think that you would have to actually live in some part of the world where it occurs for an entire year in order to fully appreciate the seasons and their changing natures. One can become accustomed to it. Hey there, C--Yes, I do the tucking-in in a serious and thorough way, but I can do it in a small gardening situation. It is a luxury for me, but for someone like you, it probably would not be possible because of all the work it entails (and you have quite a lot of ground that you grow on). Perhaps if you had a small work gang that you could direct. hahaha. Well, it is also a process that utilizes the foliage of other plants that I have growing on my plots. I do not like to waste, and this is just a variance of little quirk that I have. In other years when there was enough debris to cover the plots the cut foliage that was left-over was placed on the walking paths or cut up and put in the compost bins. It has now become a game to use the plant waste instead of just throwing it all away. Ahhh...you planted the pink blueberry bush too! Great minds....eh? hahaha. I do not know how many years it will be before they actually produce fruits, but the seller told me that I could expect some fruit next spring. Now Carolyn, I sometimes take what sellers say with a grain of salt. She could be right,but I do not see anything that vaguely resembles but formation of little pre-bud swellings like I see in the other Vacciniums. We will see how they go. I sincerely hope that it will not take 19 years to produce fruit. I got a good chuckle over that remark from your man about pulling your new bush out. Hahaha.
Looks like you've been very busy getting ready for winter. Kinda of sad though seeing that last tomato. :'(
Hi Cheryl--Yes, it is sad in a way, and I am already wishing that it was spring. hahaha. Well I have been busy with the winterizing process. I am dragging my feet though as I am expecting a day or two this month with a little temp spike and some sun. After that, I will uproot the rest of the green manure and put ALL the plots to bed for the winter. You know, keeping those bees make me look forward to spring more than I ever have been before.
All sounds good buddy, my wife groans everytime we go for a drive in the country as i always comment on the great piles of cow and horse S**t, i mean Manure :-D and how good it would be on the garden. I'm impressed you managed to drive with that much fresh manure in the car your eyes must have been watering. Those peppers look great are they just Paprika? variants or something more specific. As for the suet balls i tend to just poor melted suet onto bird seed in a small plastic container, until it sets, although here the squirrels seem to get it more than the birds. Nice to see your tom season was nice and long.
Thanks Dan--It was nice to hear from you again. yes, that manure was pretty pungent. hahaha.--a price that I gladly paid. The paprika's were the round and long "sweet peppers". The forms are different, but they taste the same. I like them green but I also like the yellow and red ones because they taste differently than when they were green. I made those suet balls out of what we call, "frituurvet". It is what we melt to fry french-fries or tempura things in. At any rate, I soften the blocks of it up by placing them in the microwave for a short time and then pour in the oats, bird seeds and some crunchy peanut butter. I then just squeeze it and knead it until everything is evenly mixed. Then I shape them or press them into recepticals,like empty coconut hulls. It is a lit of fun and I get hours of enjoyment watching the birds. I'm sorta glad that I don't have squirrels to deal with. I hope all is going well with you over there.
