gardening journal ~ october 2018

thursday-october 4

after a few days of summer-like temperatures this day dawned cool (in the 50's) and overcast. i set the children to focus on independent work in the morning so that i could go outside and enjoy a couple of hours in the gardens. even though i was weeding, the weather did make the work enjoyable. i first started a fire in the fire pit to make the yard that much more cozy and set to work. having let the garden go in september, we now have our work cut out for us as we clear away the old to let the soil rest until spring.
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i weeded the herbs, cleared the squash and bush beans, deadheaded the annabelle hydrangeas and butterfly bushes and harvested cherry tomatoes (for salad tonight) and green beans and potatoes (for shepherd's pie tomorrow).

sunday-october7

this weekend i hoped to clear most of the vegetable garden and divide and transplant perennials, but non-stop rain dashed those hopes. knowing spaghetti is on monday's menu i harvested, cleaned and roasted 7 pounds of tomatoes. usually i roast them having been tossed with olive oil, but since i know how i'll be using them, i added garlic, onions and herbs to the pan a well.

monday-october 8

today's responsibilities didn't leave time for gardening, but i did wander the garden and find some kale to add to the spinach (store bought - no shame!) for tonight's salad. also, the clematis are still blooming!

tuesday-october 9

incessant rainfall continues today, but red russian kale was harvested to add to couscous.

wednesday-october 10

a respite from the rain meant this morning i trimmed the magnolia tree, harvested some canela russet potatoes, red russian kale and roma tomatoes. a couple of moonflower blooms were found, too.

saturday-october 13

a dry morning meant we were able to get many chores completed in the garden. jesse dug up the final potatoes, transplanted peonies and clematis and mowed the strawberries (to allow for new growth). i harvested carrots, weeded flower beds, cleared one tomato bed. i suppose that doesn't sound like too much, but we are well on our way to preparing the yard for winter. i'd like to plant garlic, peony poppies and hollyhocks, but all of our rain means for saturated soil. i'd rather it be a bit more dry so the seeds don't rot.

wednesday-october 17

the weather has been dry enough to now plant inchelium red garlic. we've also had our first frost, so instantaneously the annuals are droopy and black, in need of clearing. that will have to wait. however, the kale loves this weather, so we're still harvesting it for salads.  

monday-october 22

took time this afternoon to clear two raised beds of zinnias, the cherry tomato bed and the bed of bush beans. all that's left to clear are the two large roma tomato beds and then we can amend the soil with grass clippings and leaf mulch.

tuesday-october 23

roone mowed and bagged the front yard which was littered with sugar maple leaves. i carted them in the wheelbarrow to the backyard and put the grass clippings and leaf mulch on some garden beds. there should be enough leaves to mulch all of the vegetable and flower beds this fall.

saturday-october 27

roone and i yet again tag teamed the sugar maple leaves. we'll have a few more rounds of mowing before she is done shedding her leaves.

monday-october 29

another round of sugar maple leaves this time working with jesse. the vegetable beds are covered and we are now onto layering the compost bin.

end of october total: 513 pounds

strawberries~56 pounds

squash~31 pounds (pennsylvania crookneck, yellow scallop. orange custard)

bush beans~15 pounds (golden wax, calima bush)

garlic~2 pounds (inchelium red)

onions~10 pounds (stuttgarter)

roma tomatoes~172 pounds

early girl, better boy & super sonic tomatoes~135 pounds

cherry tomatoes~21 pounds

sweet peppers~4 pounds

carrots~4 pounds

pinto gold potatoes~3 pounds

canela russet potatoes~36 pounds

cucumbers~14 pounds (japanese long, dutch yellow)

various herbs, kale, spinach and lettuce