Garden in October
After three days of rain, it was thrilling to see that Sunday lived up to its name. Douglas and I went to yoga and then walked to a restaurant for breakfast. Back at home we planned to paint the porch and the shutters, but we were sidetracked by the state of the yard. It was looking very overgrown.
I love the goldenrod, but it gets more out of control every year. However lovely it looks in a field, perhaps it is not appropriate for this small space. I always plan to take it out, but then I look closer.
The plants are crawling with bees. This time of year is crucial for these insects. They must store up honey for the winter, and there are not that many flowers around. I just cannot bear to deprive them of their sustenance.
Besides enjoying the buzzing of the bees, the smell is another reason to keep the goldenrod. I am not sure if it is the flowers or the trees, but the area around that front garden smells heavenly – like honey.
Maybe next year I will prune back the goldenrod so that the asters, chrysanthemums and other flowers can shine. Or possibly I will leave the yellow for the bees.
Douglas spent a couple of hours pulling plantains from the yard and then began mowing. The yard looks more respectable now.
In the meantime, I cleaned up the gardens some. By the end of the day there were five bins of yard waste. We are fortunate that the city picks it up every Monday. Douglas had added another bucket by then.
I also took some time to check out the produce in our yard. It is starting to die back, but there are still things ripening in there.
The sweet potatoes were ready for harvest. I could have left them for a while longer, but from what I have read, they cannot survive any kind of frost. Because I have to work, I need to harvest them on a weekend, and I could not be sure that there would not be a frost this week. I pulled them on Sunday.
There are a few grapes on the vine as well. The other bunch is gone. I am not sure if a passerby ate them or if the birds got to them – they are not there any more. This is not much of a harvest, but it is only the second fall.
The goji berry bush is loaded with flowers, and the berries are beginning to pop out all over it.
I wish that we had been able to paint, but I’m glad that at the very least the yard looks better. Maybe the weather will be good this weekend, and we can slap some paint on the house. Hopefully, the bees will still be around.
Happy Homemaking!
I am a teacher, traveler, artist, writer, homemaker and a whole lot more. In January 2009, I bought the Cape of Dreams. It was the second house that I had ever owned, but it was the first that I bought by myself. I now live in the house with my husband Douglas, our dog Kahlua, and Crème de Menthe, the cat. Because, what life is complete without a little Kahlua and Cream? I love arts and crafts of all kinds, and I refinish furniture as well. We are slowly redoing our entire house. You can read about my projects on my blog www.CapeofDreams.com
Your homegrown sweet potatoes look divine. The grapes should get better and better every year. Do you have a plan for them other than eating the fruit? You two have done a wonderful job spiffing up the yard this fall. Jo @ Let’s Face the Music
We are excited to eat the sweet potatoes. Unfortunately, they have to cure for a week before we can do so. Eating the grapes is the only plan right now. Once we get too many to eat at once we will worry about plan B.
It’s so hard to find time to fit it all in, isn’t it? We have to dig our taters, too. Eric made jelly out of our white grapes this year, even though we aren’t jelly eaters. We’ll just give it away.
We do not eat much jelly, but we make exceptions. I hope to make quince jelly again this year.
Your garden is lovely and in fall we must take every opportunity of sun to work in the garden.
yummmmmmm home grown sweet potatoes! so you can’t eat them for a week after harvesting?
I had no idea that I would have to wait a week. I might not have planted them had I known, but now I am so glad that I did. We ate the first ones last night, and they were delicious.