First, here is the spot emtied of the dead tomatoes...
And here is the Winter's Pansy Bed in the same spot. Might as well use it for something...
I have saved a dozen for the deck pots... Some of the best. You'll see them growing and blooming soon.
First, here is the spot emtied of the dead tomatoes...
And here is the Winter's Pansy Bed in the same spot. Might as well use it for something...
I have saved a dozen for the deck pots... Some of the best. You'll see them growing and blooming soon.
It is the end of the outside gardening season. We had hard freezes 2 night in a row. I covered the tomato plants because the next 10 nights are forecast to stay above freezing and I was hoping to get a few more tomatoes to ripen.
But they all died. Well, tomatoes are actually tropical vines. So I picked all the green ones. There are some recipes for using them. Fried in batter is routine, but I saw one for Tomato Parmesan and will try that too.
The Coleus and Mum pots were safely in the house, so they can go back outside for another week. I will be bringing them and all the salad trays indoors after that to limp them through Winter. Any color inside and any salad cuttings are good.
I disassembled the tomato bed today. Not the simplest thing. Pull out thge cage support stakes, remove the cages, take up all the labels, pull the plants, pull up the black landscaping fabric that kept the weeds smothered. The fabric is all trash. It seems to fall apart in 6 months.
But at least the grassy weeds are all dead this year. I'll be planting most of the Pansies there next week (a few will go around the mailbox and some in the deck pots this year).
Did some serious compost bin work the past week (there are 2 bins).
I bought a self-propelled battery Ryobi mower a few years ago and it is wonderful. I have it set for mulching, and I can still use the bagger attachment (easy to attach and remove). I shredded/mowed leaves all over the yard.
Filled the empty bin 6" deep. Then filled 4 trash barrels and 2 trash bags with leaves for future use. There are more leaves in the trees, but I will shred them in place on the lawn as free fertilizer for both grass and trees.
I had too much green stuff for proper composting, so the leaves were nice to add. Yesterday, I started turning the existing greenish pile into the other bin and mixed it with more shredded leaves 6" at a shot (the layers compress). Found I had some good worms in the existing pile.
I got half of the old piled moved but it gets tiresome. So the rest will get moved tomorrow. Between the existing green stuff (kitchen scraps) and the newly shredded browns (leaves) and watered a bit, the new pile should finally heat up nicely.
I overseeded the lawn a week ago. The shredded leaves won't bother them when I do that next week. They will have either germinated or not and they can grow up between the leaf-shreds without difficulty.
Blew all the leaves off the deck. They don't bother me any, but the cats dislike walking on dry crunchy leaves. It offends their sense of stealth. I indulge The Mews. And the leaves don't do any positive good sitting on the deck.
Put a marinated chicken on the smoker. Not exactly my old model (fancier shelves), but close enough.
I can never quite get it to fully-cooked in the smoker, but I've read that all the smokey flavor gets in after 2 hours, so I just finish them in the oven. Sometimes I brush half with BBQ sauce for variety. I pulled off a whole leg for dinner (with veggies). It was delicious!
More to do the next few days...
It was predicted to get down to the high 30f last night and I'm not sure what temp the coleus will withstand, So I brought them inside for the night. Those shower curtain hooks make them a lot easier to grab and take off the hangers. All next week is going to be warmer, so I'll put them back out later today.
I moved the deck pots close to the house. Residual house-warmth should keep them going. I cut the balsams at ground level, They aren't blooming any more. But I saved the seed pods in a jar. I don't know if the seeds will bloom but I'll toss them around in early Spring in case they do.
Saved some dried Tithonia seedheads too. They are supposed to be annual repeat self-seeders, so they should. Both are in labeled jars in the basement fridge. It all multiple flowers all Summer and Fall. I could enjoy more of them.
The deckpot marigolds are showing off well. After I saved the Balsam seedpods, I cut them off and soil level, so the pots are all marigold. When they die back, I will add the pansies. Ans I have enough pansies for several places.
This is before I cut off the dying Balsam, but you can see the marigolds in there.
Most of the Pansies will go where the tomatoes are now. They will be dying soon. A whole bed of 60 is nice all Winter.. Other pansies will go in the deck pots after the marigolds succumb to the cold. And some will surround the mailbox. Flowers in Winter are amazing!
I think I will try to keep the Coleus thriving inside. I will add some ceiling hooks near the deck doors and see if they will last a bit longer. The deck faces South, so they will get some sun. I might even add a grow light above them.
I went out and took pictures. First, a group shot of the 96 pansies (for 50 cents each).
And I mentioned they were yellow, purple, blue, white and red. I haven't seen many white ones, and red is a surprise to me. I picked among the various 8-packs to get a good variety but I took every pack that had a red one in it.
Last month, my cable box partially died, so they sent a replacement. But they wanted the old one back anyway. The store in town only hand...