Anderwood said:


Final pepper and tomato harvest.

So colorful!! I love all the colors. The picture is even prettier when it is enlarged.

Really that is an awesome batch of peppers you have there for a last harvest. Even a few tomatoes also to eat.

So sad when the season comes to an end and there are no more veggies!!

CarolineScott said:Do you still have lots of bees around the peas?

I doubt it. Haven't seen bees around lately since it started getting chilly at night.

But I don't think peas need bees. I mean they set peas early in the spring and I don't know how many bees are around then. Honestly I never thought to look!!

I wonder if shaking the plants would increase pollination?

CarolineScott said:I wonder if shaking the plants would increase pollination?

I don't think so. Plenty of breezes here.

I'm pretty sure that peas, like beans, are self-pollinating and normally do so before the flower ever opens. Not that the bees don't take advantage of them, though... so although the peas and beans don't really need the bees, they're definitely good for the bees

I started doing some cleanup in the garden today, by harvesting all the squash and pumpkins and pulling the vines off my hoop trellis, then carting them out to another spot on our property where we dump the plant material that i don't want to compost or till into the garden. I have a few huge zucchini that got missed, that will also go out there for the deer.

Seems like there's an awful lot of cleaning up that needs to be done -- and I also need to get my garlic planted soon (although I've planted in November before and it still did fine). The next couple of days are supposed to be dry and a little bit warmer, so hopefully I can make a good dent in the to-do list.

Seems like there is always a long todo list in the garden. Well, maybe not in the middle of winter when there is lots of snow!!

Newyorkrita said:Seems like there is always a long todo list in the garden. Well, maybe not in the middle of winter when there is lots of snow!!

That's the truth, Rita! Right now I feel like all the garden cleanup is way beyond my ability... but I feel that way every year, and somehow it all gets done

I planted my garlic yesterday with my daughter. I was cleaning up and she said she wanted to plant something in the raised beds. Originally I said no, that it was all done, but remembered the garlic! I am doing duganski from what I harvested in July.

Planting with daughter is Way More Important than clean up!

Weedwhacker said:

That's the truth, Rita! Right now I feel like all the garden cleanup is way beyond my ability... but I feel that way every year, and somehow it all gets done

I have so many tomato plants I really am taking forever to get them pulled. But slowly it does get done.

Reid, your daughter is adorable. I feel the same way when I sew with my daughter (who is 43 years old.)

Love all the posts from Northern fellow gardeners. So much fruit & vegetables during summer. We work and work to preserve the bounty.
Then the snows come.
In the early morning darkness of winter, I make my way to the the kitchen. I put the kettle on for tea and while I wait, I crack open the first jar of strawberry jam and smell the scent of summer. That, for me, is reason enough for preserving it all.

Beautifully put Kathy. I was right there with you.

Weedwhacker said:I'm pretty sure that peas, like beans, are self-pollinating and normally do so before the flower ever opens. Not that the bees don't take advantage of them, though... so although the peas and beans don't really need the bees, they're definitely good for the bees

I started doing some cleanup in the garden today, by harvesting all the squash and pumpkins and pulling the vines off my hoop trellis, then carting them out to another spot on our property where we dump the plant material that i don't want to compost or till into the garden. I have a few huge zucchini that got missed, that will also go out there for the deer.

Seems like there's an awful lot of cleaning up that needs to be done -- and I also need to get my garlic planted soon (although I've planted in November before and it still did fine). The next couple of days are supposed to be dry and a little bit warmer, so hopefully I can make a good dent in the to-do list.

We finish the cleanup - some how - aches go away. Then when the first snow comes as we look out the window, THERE ! - some small thing I forgot. That will bug me for the entire winter.

Looking out at the first snowfall of the season here in Minnesota, quite late in the season. It always brings out a lot of mixed feelings but it is what it is. This will be our first winter in our new home (85 years!) and as I gaze out those windows that I had hoped to get replaced already will be able to study where the snow accumulates or doesn't, the prevailing winds and all the ways the climate effects the future plans. I barely got all the pots of plants from our old home transplanted into one of the old garden beds for the winter. I also dug up most of the plants and overgrown shrubs from around the new house and either divided them, gave them away or found better spots for them temporarily. I know next year we will be doing major rehab on the exterior of the house so won't be able to plant or have plants along the exterior sides. This has been a difficult year for this garden junkie with so much work to do and so little time ( or $) to do it right now. I did manage to get a long border along the front of the property started with perennials and mixed shrubs I salvaged from the property also the future site of a fence line to keep the kids and critters safe from the road. It looks pretty puny right now but I can see that it has a lot of potential for the vision I have in my head. One of the brightest spots for this grandma was my little 2 1/2 year old grandson (just a few miles away now) busy helping with all of the garden projects. It fills my heart with delight to see him following in his mama's footsteps as my best garden buddy. Plus we are apparently going to be grandparents again in the spring with a new brother or sister expected in mid May. Life is sweet!

Sounds heavenly even with the heavy workload. Maybe because of the nature of the heavy workload.

And having your children and grandchildren near is a wonderful blessing.

Having young grandchildren close is a blessing.
They keep you young!

Oh yah.

All these Sunflowers are from birds scattering seeds.

The birds are growing their own food!

I let a lot of the sunflowers from the birdseed grow too -- it's hard for me to turn down free plants, no matter where they come from. And I love the multi-branched plants that the black sunflower seeds seem to produce

j52, what is the tree that shows up particularly well in the 1st photo -- Mountain Ash?