and now it's fall...

[jennlk]

frost on Thursday morning when I went out to do morning chores. The soybean field behind the house has been harvested -- it's been brown for a few weeks, but there were lots of fields to do. The birdbath has been dry every morning for the last couple of weeks, and I suspect that the deer have been drinking out of it. (It's easier than drinking out of the pond, which they'll also do.) There's a lot of cruft left on the south side of the pond where J yanked an evergreen early in the summer, but much of it is too well established for me to pull.

I got strawberries moved last weekend. I need to water them again -- we did get some rain, but we're still way behind, and I want them to be established enough that they'll survive the winter.

I wrenched my back last Sunday yanking out a clover plant. Sigh. I should know better. In my defense, it probably would have been fine except that I'd spent Saturday afternoon moving other plants. Today, it's mostly better, so I need to go out with the garden scissors and cut back things in the East garden which is looking awfully overgrown at the moment.

I have decided that I'm going to wait to redeem my birthday plants until spring, when there is a better selection of shade tolerant perennials. (Discovered a new native plant nursery just up the road, so they'll probably get some business too.) I have a couple of gardens that have shifted to much more shade than expected, so I need to shift the plantings.

Comments

Thoughts

[ysabetwordsmith]

>>frost on Thursday morning when I went out to do morning chores. The soybean field behind the house has been harvested -- it's been brown for a few weeks, but there were lots of fields to do. <<

Here in central Illinois it's still warm in the daytime, cool at night, very unseasonable temperatures here. A little more than half the fields are down.

>>The birdbath has been dry every morning for the last couple of weeks, and I suspect that the deer have been drinking out of it. <<

Yeah, I have a bee tree and the girls are draining their small metal birdbath daily. The bigger one stays full though.

>> we did get some rain, but we're still way behind <<

We haven't gotten more than a dribble in over 2 months.

>>Discovered a new native plant nursery just up the road<<

So awesome!

>>I have a couple of gardens that have shifted to much more shade than expected, so I need to shift the plantings.<<

Did you know that hostas are edible? They're Asian vegetables. But I couldn't find any in America designed for that. :/ They're all bred for decor, so no idea what the flavor will be. I still want to try them.

Re: Thoughts

[jennlk]

We’ve gotten less than 2” of rain since early July, and lot of that fell in one day in early October. The gardens are still very dry, but I have been able to actually pull some weeds and not have them break off at ground level.

I did not know that hostas were edible. They won’t fit in that garden — it’s more of a cottage garden — but I do have a couple of places in the yard where there’s not enough sun for grass. must ponder.

Re: Thoughts

[ysabetwordsmith]

>>We’ve gotten less than 2” of rain since early July, and lot of that fell in one day in early October. The gardens are still very dry, but I have been able to actually pull some weeds and not have them break off at ground level.<<

Yeah, the ground is either brick or dust. :/ Theoretically it's supposed to rain tomorrow.

>> I did not know that hostas were edible. They won’t fit in that garden — it’s more of a cottage garden — but I do have a couple of places in the yard where there’s not enough sun for grass. must ponder.<<

I haven't tried them yet. They're supposed to be similar to asparagus, which I like. The very first leaves on a linden tree -- just for a week or so -- taste exactly like asparagus except tiny and tender. One of these years I'm hoping to have time to throw some in an omelette.