And just like that, everything was covered in snow.
It's funny that most people I talk to are astounded by how "soon" winter arrived. It's December in New England - we're lucky we didn't have a white Thanksgiving!
So my to-do list isn't quite ta-done. I didn't get any more fence posts in, I didn't get any fencing up, I didn't get more brush cut in the forest garden area, or cut the sumac whips behind the bitch barn (my alternative to a she shed). I guess all of these shift over to the spring to-do list, once the snow is gone. So much to get done next year, what with the alpine garden, maintenance in the hillside garden, and the continuing formation of the forest garden. I really need to set my expectations to a level more acceptable to a mature woman's abilities. That's a nice way of saying I'm old and broken, and can't bull like I used to.
In the house I've started some more lettuce, another tomato, and another pepper. Hopefully the aphid invasion was stemmed in time. I ended up tossing some old friends on the compost heap, figuring they may have been the culprits that brought aphids in the house. Goodbye to my four year old celery plant, my five year old parsley, and a few annual flowers I've overwintered. I always feel like I'm abandoning a pet when I purposely cull plants. The guilt can be overwhelming, which is half the reason I overwinter things I shouldn't.
This winter, I'm going to try winter sowing in plastic jugs, and I'm excited to see how it pans out. Last winter, I stratified seeds in the fridge and then grew them under the grow lights. I really didn't have the best success; the fame flowers died before I could get them planted out, the five poppy mallows that survived are planted in a holding bed and I'm not sure they'll make it, the whorled milkweed that germinated died soon after planting out, and the gaura never did much. The coneflowers did really well, but the ones I planted out into the meadow area struggled, and I'm not even sure if they made it. The leftovers that I planted into the cement bed in the hillside garden thrived despite the lack of water, so hopefully I'll be able to transplant those out next summer.
I'm thinking this year I can concentrate on annual flower and vegetable seed starting in the house. I need to curb my enthusiasm so I don't overplant and wind up with no room to spread out under the lights once I begin to pot on when the seedlings get too big for their containers.
Looking ahead to my outdoor gardening new year, I hope to get the back yard finally fenced in. Once that's complete, I can start laying out the garden beds and pathways. I've been researching paths, because I don't want to make the same mistake I did with the gravel paths that were eaten by grass within one season. My biggest mistake may have been the landscape fabric barrier, believe it or not. I think I'll start with mown grass paths, and go from there. Of course, there are the prerequisite chores that need to be done first, so that I can do the fun stuff...get the alpine bed situated, because once fenced I won't be able to get the tractor in there. Get more mulch on the bank, because once fenced, I won't be able to back my truck up to unload. Ugh. Who knew a simple garden would be so much work? I did, because I never make these things simple! But I honestly believe I thrive on this stuff.
