Gardening Goals: October

Fall is an exciting and busy time of year.  School is in full swing and somehow I always seem to have grading to do, its kind of like weeding: always on your to-do list, you do it, and then it's time to weed again!  Before we get too far into October its time to set some goals.  I have a love of to-do lists.  I like to show completion with a smiley face :)  Accomplishments are happy times!  So here's my October to-do list:

• Clean-up garden: tomatoes look pathetic, but yet can't seem to part with them.  October is the month to say a final farewell.
• Harvest peanuts:  Peanuts are probably one of my favorite things to grow.  I think it's all about anticipation and peanuts sure do make you wait.  Takes almost 6 months from seed to harvest and then you have to dry for a couple of weeks!  
• Dry herbs: Mint, basil, oregano, thyme, tarragon- should be an easy goal to accomplish.
• Plant garlic:  I guess this is getting ahead of myself, because first I need to actually buy some garlic! 
• Order bulbs: I want to add bulbs to the front flower bed and have to decide what to plant and how many.  Very exciting!
• Add compost:  Feeding the garden is always important.
• Plant cover crops:  This is my first time planting cover crops, so I can't wait to see how they do during the winter.
• Mulch:  I plan to collect leaves for mulching, so this will have to wait until the trees decide to give up their leaves.
• Make cold frame: Another first.  I want to try growing some cool weather crops through the winter, so I need to assemble a simple cold frame.
• Finish planting fall garden:  I have a few more weeks of planting fall crops.  Going to have to remember to water too.  The past week has seen no rain and that's not encouraging my seeds to sprout.
• Paint potting shed trim:  This is one of those projects that seems to never get done, so Oct is the month!

Ok, I think its going to be a busy, busy month!  Happy October gardening :)

Harvest Monday

I found Harvest Mondays on Daphnes Dandelions and I think it's a fabulous idea.  I've only been blogging about my garden for a month, so I kept telling myself I would wait and join the harvest posts in the spring.  You know- when I'm organized and my garden is pretty and prolific (aka.. never!).  So here goes, my first Monday harvest at the beginning of fall:

This week's harvest included a few beans, cherry tomatoes, a sole Amish paste tomato, cayenne peppers, and those green balls are Thai eggplant.

I also had a handful of beans.  Many of my beans got too wet in the past weeks and sprouted!










And then there was the tiniest corn harvest.  I tried to grow two crops of corn this year.  The first crop was planted in early spring and harvested in July.  Then in July I planted round two.  They only grew about 3 ft compared to the 8 ft of the first crop.  Not sure what happened, but I thought the baby corn were kind of cute ;)  Cooked and ate and they were quiet tasty.

I did have to say goodbye to the parsley today.  A sacrifice for the future butterflies...

Snake Sunday

This weekend I did a lot of cleaning up the garden and pruning shrubs.  A couple of weeks ago I had tackled these huge privet bushes that are at the end of the driveway.  They had grown above the 10 ft fence!  I did not plant these and I'm not sure how much longer they are going to remain.  What is saving them is the thought of how difficult they will be to remove!  Anyway, I left the clippings in a huge pile and on Sunday was clearing out the mess and found a little garter snake and a ringneck snake.  Unfortunately I did not have my camera on me, but here's a picture of a ringneck snake courtesy of Will Cook at North Carolina Herb Photos.  Garter snakes are very common, but I've never seen a ringneck snake.  Although according to everything I've read about them, they are very common.  It was an exciting critter to see! 

But that was not to be the end of snake Sunday.  Next on my to do list was tackling the Rose of Sharon shrubs in front of the house.  I also did not plant these.  The good thing is that they are contained by a retaining wall so they can not take over the world because I'm pretty sure they would if they could!  I do have to admit their flowers are nice and prolific.  I was pruning away and not in a delicate manner.  I was hacking the shrubs because I know they grow rapidly and can handle (and need) a serious cutting back.  As I was chopping away, I almost chopped a green snake in two!!  Luckily it moved and I stopped.  It was a rough green snake.  Another snake that I've never encountered.  Once again I did not have my camera handy (this will teach me to prune with camera in reach!). Here's another photo courtesy of Will Cook at North Carolina Herb Photos. 

Who says pruning is a boring task?  My new mantra: prune often and carry a camera! Oh and watch what you are pruning.