Let it Rain!

   These couple of days of much needed rain have given me a break from the gardens and a few hours to catch up on some inside chores. I even spent Sunday afternoon in my sewing/craft room planning this year's Christmas presents to be made.
   My beets have all been just about harvested, maybe a dozen left in the ground to mature some more before pulling them out. They have been tender and sweet and my husband and I have really been enjoying them. One got away from me and became a giant. I don't know how I missed pulling this one up sooner, but now it is way past the suggested eating size of "slightly larger than a golf ball", as stated on the seed packet. It is now the size of a large turnip and probably pretty tough to eat. You can see from the picture next to the quarter it is past it's prime, but a gigantic root crop just the same.

 

 

   My gardening nemesis, the Japanese beetle, arrived in full force in July doing devastating damage to my roses and fruit trees. Oh, how I hate them! I don't use any pesticides in my gardens and the beetle traps you hang in trees seem to import more Japanese beetles to the property. My grandfather used to pick each and every beetle off of his roses, in his extensive rose garden, and throw them in a glass jar with kerosene in it. Well, I guess that killed them! There are so many Japanese beetles here this year it would be a nine to five job for me to hand pick them off. One lucky break this year has been no sighting of tomato hornworms. Those I do pick off by hand to save the tomato crop.

Another rose ruined. 

 

   I hope everyone is enjoying this rainy day, I know the gardens are! Maybe not the animals that are confined to the barn, look at the faces on the sheep who were summoned to the barn when  a thunderstorm was approaching yesterday.



Preparing Gardens for Winter

   Another busy week on the farm getting ready for the winter to come. This morning, since the weather is so nice out, I finished pulling out all the remnants of our four-square colonial kitchen garden. This year one square was devoted to green beans, another beets and carrots, the third onions, and finally the last square is where we grew our tomatoes. All have been harvested, eaten, frozen, canned, or stored in the root cellar. The ground has been hoed and raked and ready for next spring's plantings. I will be planting one quadrant with garlic in the next couple of weeks, but the rest of the spaces will sit barren until next spring. I only wish all the gardens were all cleaned out and ready for winter,  there is still a lot of work to do before winter sets in. I haven't even cut back any of the perennials in the border in front of the house yet. A long border! This is my least favorite job in the fall. It always seems like such a good idea to fill your property with beds of flowers until you have to maintain them, but that is the price to pay for beautiful flowers.
   Yesterday, while the ground was still wet from the rain we received, I pulled out all the stalks from the spent sunflowers and put some of the flower heads in the bird feeders for the wild birds and gave some to the chickens. What a treat they thought that was. I was amazed at how massive the clump of roots had become and how deep they went, a very hard job to pull out especially when you have seventy sunflower stalks to pull.
   The weather is supposed to hold out for the next few days, so I hope to finish all the outdoor gardening chores for this year. I do plan to make and can applesauce over the weekend as well, so it's back to gardening today. Have a great week and enjoy these beautiful sunny days.

Ready for next Spring

Sunflower Treats