Getting caught up.

I’m back. It was another one of those busy weeks that we get from time to time. I managed to get out for a couple more days of hunting last week; more to come on that. I didn’t get one, but it was not for lack of effort. Also, A~ and I finally got out into the yard to start on the winterizing and get caught up on the yard chores. What a task. We’ve moved perennials and trees, weeded, thinned, pruned and chopped up bags full of stuff for the last big compost push of the year. More to come on that as well (you know I love to talk about my composting). We still haven’t touched the garden yet though. I was wondering if anyone has any experience with winter cover crops, I’ve been mulling the idea over of planting one, but an unsure as to what to plant, and what it does. I will read up on it, but I’d love any personal anecdotes.

We’ve been enjoying a wonderful Indian summer this last week. After the bitter cold hunting a week ago it was nice to be in the yard in shorts this weekend. I was pruning up some of the honeysuckle on Sunday and was sweating like mad, I had to get some shorts on and break out with the shade hat. It was great. We decided this summer to remove the perennial shrubs that we had planted in the beds along the back of our yard in favor of expanding the veggie garden. Doing this will effectively double the amount of space that I have available and will give me a place to plant some of my hardier perennial edibles. My Rhubarb for instance did really well this spring, and is scheduled to be dug and split this fall. I currently have it in one of my raised beds, and although it has done well, I want to be able to use that space for other crops and the rhubarb takes up so much space when it is in full growth. I’m going to split the crown and have at least two plants for next year. Mmm mmm can’t wait for the pies. My strawberries have gone berserk this summer and spread like wild fire so I thinned them down while still leaving approx twice the number of plants. Between those two I’ll be in the pies for sure next spring! I also hope to be able to get a good potato crop in that space next year, I’ve never really had enough space to plant more that a couple of plants, but I love the new red ones so that’s on the list for sure. I could go on and on, but I think I’ll save that for a dedicated post later this winter when I’ve been able to further finalize a garden plan for next year.

Hope you all had a great week. I’ll be back with more soon, oh, and some really great news too!

P~