What have you done today in the Garden?

Harvested more parsnips. Started cleaning and working the surface of the bed to receive the mulch. Only one more row of the parsnips and that third bed will be ready. The strawb bed in that quadrant was weeded for the last time before the winter. Did the final filtering of the wax.
There are two beds that have been covered on this foto. On the foreground there is plant debris and green manure. The far bed is the one with the parsnips still in.


Transplanted several stands of flowers chopped away from existing oversized stands. We planted them into the craters of the old plum trees removed a few days ago. A chap up the way offered us a section of a purple aster that was growing the wrong way. Here is one of the tree extraction sites.


I made a beginning on the schow. These actions must be done twice a year to ensure the continuous free flow of the canals lining properties. If there is plant growth in the canal or along the banks then it must be removed. We keep an eye on things all season long, but still…there are mature reeds and other tough plants that must dealt with. Otherwise there will be fines.

At the end of the work day, just before tea and bikkies— my Bride cut my hair. It feels all airy around my ears now. The lottie is the perfect place to cut hair, as the wind just takes it away. Why, I feel like a new man.

 

Great job and pics of a beautiful fall garden… not much color change here yet.

 

The air is starting to clear, so I got back to work and planted garlic. This raised bed had sauce tomatoes until two or three days ago.

This garlic variety is called "Music". A hardneck with lots of flavor and jumbo cloves. I've grown it for many years, and save the largest bulbs to plant for the next crop.





This is a softneck variety called "Lorz'. They have strong flavor, but the cloves are smaller and more of them. Still bigger than grocery store garlic.



This how deep I plant them, using my special biometric depth measuring system.



All planted. The bamboo and willow sticks mark the rows, until they emerge.



I always think I've planted them too deep, but so far they have grown well each year. I like to think that having them a little deeper, shelters them from the elements and keeps the roots moist.

The cosmos finally started blooming. It's a giant - I cant reach the top flowers. Very nice, when many other flowers are finished and sad looking.



I went around my old neighborhood and left notes on doors, I'd be happy to haul away their tree leaves this year. They will mulch the meditation garden and some other areas.

 

@Shoerd, those are some nice looking garden beds! Very nice indeed.

Our garden gets the doggie hair. It's full of nutrients for the plants. That and coffee grounds and eggshells.

 

Sjeord you have been busy on your Lotti.

Daniel great that you can get outside now and that comos is lovely, I've got one that flowered late.

 

Hiya Pacnor— you are a remarkable woman that sees beauty in a garden in transition. Chuckle. To me it just sort of looks messy at the moment. Once the work is complete there will be beauty for my eyes, if not a wee bit desolate…but that is music for the future. There is still life there— some wanted plants and some weeds, especially in the perennials. Never mind all that, I appreciate your kindness.

Daniel, those are such lovely garlics, almost too attractive to eat. Haha.
I have grown them here but it is difficult because it is so moist and cool. With the climate changing so radically, it may be possible soon. This past summer would have been good for them, I think.

I like the way you do your bed, with marking and planting.
My Bride was really taken with your Cosmea. It is a fav of hers.

it sounds like you have mulching plans of your own.
It is handy to carry gardening tools around with you.

 

I forgot to say that your action to get leaves is a great initiative. Those neighbours ought to be happy with you. Show piccies when you have harvested please.

 

Pulled up a lot of grass that creeps into the border of the rhubarb and cut down some brambles as far down as possible there. Looks like one of the rhubarb has died so i'll replace it with one in a pot.

 

@Daniel W - can I ask, when you mulch with leaves do you still run them over with a lawn mower? I need to mulch my new strawberry patch for winter. There is an abunance of leaves, but I've winterized and put away the mowers. I was wondering if I could pile them on before the snow stays. Right now it is just wet flurries.

 

Sjoerd. Thank you for your kind words about how I see how beautiful your garden is during fall.

Daniel .. you have the heart and soul of a true “Gardener”.

Any one have a answer to this question ? ? ?
Why so many people with leaves just don’t center the leaves around their lawns at intervals in fall . Rake the leaf piles low enough to mow over with mulcher blades on mowers. It breaks the leaves up and also fertilizes the turf roots. No leaves to pick up. It’s that easy…

Cute story . My neighbor has several old growth huge oak trees. While he was on vaca I was in charge of his animals. The huge oak trees we’re loosing leafs during the fall. Every few days I would take my mower with mulcher blades next door and mow all the leaves. When the neighbor returned , he asked..”What did you do with all the leaves”? I told him I mowed them all with my mulcher mower. He had no idea that mulcher blades on mowers worked so well, and was very happy that he didn’t have to rake huge piles of leaves after returning from his vaca.

And then…let the winter season come for a well earned rest for all the gardens and gardeners.

 

Wind is my enemy for leaf piles. If I wait long enough and it doesn't snow, the wind blows them all against the trees anyhow It's a race I don't think I could ever make piles and wait. The mulching blades are really great - you are right.

My daughter has a community FB page in the city, and when they see neighbours with bags of leaves they SOS each other to go ask if they can have them. hahahaha ( Smart Kid ) . I've actually never harvested my leaves for leaf mold before until this fall. I have always just let them sit and do their thing wherever they fall. I'm pretty excited about the leaf mold thing and giving back to the veggie and flower gardens. No way I'm collecting all of them though - just the easy deep bits. The mower mulcher blades have been great.

If anyone knows if I can pile the leaves on the strawberries without being mulched I'd love to have a bit of insight. I think I'm on the two day countdown to try it. They would be mostly long skinny willow leaves.It's supposed to stop snowing/sleeting and have a couple days of sun. I thought about breaking up the stalks from my dill first, putting that on, and then the leaves. ( or I could be making beautiful mouse tunnels for winter survival )

 

Mel I don’t know why not to pile leaves or straw on the strawberry beds. Snow will help insulate too. We don’t put anything on our strawberries. They go dormant in winter.

I don’t get all the leaves out of all the flower beds , lots of trees here to. Usually by June they have broken down on their own. I fill a tarp full of the deciduous leaves to pour over the flower and veggie beds . By the next season they have broken down for new growth to fill the beds up once again. My burn pile is full of logs tree limbs have been cut to balance out trees and usually shrinks down to half the size by the next season. I have not burned at all in a couple of years and just leave the piles and I was surprised as it tend do fine as wild life takes over and summer growth adds to increase the many flowers and shrubs that have developed and bloomed. It’s becoming a bio plant system all of it’s own . It’s not full of unsightly limbs and muddied garden debris . It’s turned into a island of plants and blooms in summers. Reminiscent of a natural forest.

 

Mel, leaf piles do not work in my country, so I bag all the leaves and take them to my compost bins, chuck them in and cover it. Also to make proper leaf mould I leave them in the plastic bags until they changed.
The wind whips over the dikes and are with us constantly…it is not like, shall there be wind; rather, how hard will it blow.

But to your question Re: strawberry beds. I have never used leaves for this, but have packed-them with straw. So, I cannot see why un-mulched leaves would not work. This year I am not planning to mulch them at all, as their foliage is quite thick and with the changing weather patterns, it may well not become too cold.

 

Over here we've stopped mowing the lawn/grass because it gets too wet, they either use a rake or one of those vaccumes. Don't have many trees by me to get leaves, so i go out around the back or up the road to collect them for my back garden. I just put them on the ground around my plum trees and they rot down well like that. By doing that i think that I've stopped the codling moth getting into the plum fruit.

 

Mowed the lawn and collected some leaves.

Today's main job.


The feature bed in the middle of our garden is shared by this Sambucas in the summer.





But at this time of the year, it looks a bit sorry for itself.




It'll get a prune after Christmas.
So it swaps places with this Mimosa.







This is already showing blooms forming.





Just a question of heaving out the whole tub.
The idea is that these several slow growing azaleas will eventually hide the tubs, but I've been saying that for nearly ten years.