Autumnal Musings

 We're finally into autumn, and not a moment too soon.  As much as I love the gardens and new projects every year, summer has turned into something I just need to get through.  The heat, the droughts, the unbearable humidity levels...the older I get and the more our weather patterns change, the more I dislike being outside.  Luckily, the past few weeks have been beautiful, though dry save for one rainy day.  Sleep isn't so challenging and "hot" is upper 70sF.  

Taking stock of my efforts this season, I have some valuable lessons be mindful of next year.  

*Don't wait so long to plant cucumbers; waiting for the peas to die off takes too long.  Plant them in late June instead of late July or August.  I think I'll give up trying to grow them up the hay ring, and use homemade trellises like I used to.  The perennial sweet pea is probably better grown up the arch.

*Don't plant vegetables that need to be hilled up with ones that don't.  Trying to keep my leeks buried but not the carrots was a futile effort at best.  

*Get the sumac removed from the hillside as soon as possible in spring.  They shade out too much of the vegetable garden and result in poorer yields.  

*Amend, amend, amend!  The beds all need a good shot of compost.  Not adding manure to the cinder block bed is partially why my onions did so poorly.  Of course, lack of water didn't help.  

*Which brings me to water collection.  I really need to get that 275 gallon tote set up for next year, but with the amount of water we hauled in over the last few months, I'd go through that much in a week or less.  I think next year I'll try ollas in the raised beds, and maybe that will be a better watering method. 

*Finally...stop biting off more than you can possibly chew.  I need to concentrate on one project from start to finish, otherwise I end up with something like my track fencing that's still not done after how many years?  

There is still time to get a lot of my unfinished projects done.  I've already begun transplanting perennials - once again - out of the hillside garden beds and into the cottage garden and wildflower meadow.  My neighbor is going to try digging an area for the alpine garden, and moving large boulders into it.  I still have the forest garden area to clear, and the summer's manure pile to move to that area.  I don't have the luxury of boredom, thankfully.  And it really was a beautiful summer...

 

What is this water falling from the skies?

 RAIN!!!  Glorious, wonderful, beautiful rain!

After a quick round of thunderstorms last night, the clouds decided to have mercy upon us and have been releasing a steady, slow rain since the wee hours of the morning. I took advantage and planted the asters that were dug up to make room for the arbor earlier this summer.  Despite the already half inch or more of rain, only the very crust of the ground is damp; an inch below it is still dry as a bone.  Still, this will help some.  I split the Alma Potschke (vivid pink) and soft purple asters and dotted them throughout the wildflower meadow.  The shorter lilac colored asters have taken seat in the cottage gardens.  I was able to dig up some self seeded rose campions from the hillside beds and move them into the cottage gardens, as well. Before the day is over, I'll hopefully sow a few rows of carrots where the onions were, too.  Hope springs eternal and all that.

Speaking of hope...I was hoping I'd hauled the last of the mulch this weekend, but it looks like I'll need another truck load before I call it good.   I've got 98% of the bank covered at this point; all that's left is one little spot around the backside.

 The bulk of this load went toward a path I decided to make at the top of the bank, leaving space between what's left of the miscanthus grasses and the edge of the wildflower meadow.

 Not only does it give me enough room to access the meadow from the back, but it's wide enough for the wheelbarrow.  I honestly never intended to mulch quite this much, but I'm happy that I did.  I like the look of it, and it's a little bit of order among my ever growing chaos.  

 At the bottom of the slope I've decided to continue with my cinder blocks and caps to define the edges of the bank.  I should have enough block left to do that, but the block pile is most likely harboring - you guessed it! - more hornets.  I'll have to carefully pick away at that.  

In the meantime I can continue adjusting and fussing with the rope fence.  I've decided I really like it, and by next year the stakes will have begun to turn grey, matching the big fence and the arbor.  I'm also going to do the same type of rope fence along the raspberry patch, which has not been supported and is going in all different directions.  I did get some fruit this year, but the birds and wasps have eaten most of the berries before I could harvest.  I'll know better for next year!

In hydroponic news, my mesclun is growing like crazy.

 There's almost enough for one salad.  Next time I sow seeds, I should sow some in dirt and do a comparison of which grows faster.  Or maybe just eat what I have and move on.