fall cleanup

the day before ross and i left for florida, we set up shop and got a bunch of stuff done around the house.  with all the windshield breaking over with, we got down to the business of tree mulching, garlic planting, and leaf raking.

The garlic got in a month late, but still earlier than I planted it last year, so that’s a victory in my opinion.  I’m growing a Chesnok Red and an Ichelium Red garlic this year and I’m hoping to have enough for green garlic in the spring, mature garlic in the summer, and enough left over to store for the winter and plant again next fall.

Later that morning, J.L. came over to help.  While Ross got started on the leaves, he and I mulched our newly planted evergreens.

Finally, we joined forces on the leaves and it was mission accomplished.  half the leaves were raked onto a tarp and dumped on our front yard by the street for trash pickup (how suburbanly convenient?)

The rest ross mowed and bagged and we dumped them in with our compost.

The dogs were no help whatsoever.  But they looked adorable.

The final product.  before:and after:

and all in time for the virginia tech – nc state game that afternoon.  not too shabby.

celebrating nothing

nothing amazing to report.

just that i’m so happy it’s friday.

and that i have no travelling or other set plans for the weekend;  this is rare.  and a treasure that is to be cherished.

to celebrate the occasion, i think the hubs and i are going to have a little music jamout session this evening.  some dinner, maybe some wine.  and if the weather report is true, i’ll be diving into the garden tomorrow morning:  weeding, pulling up spent plants, and turning the compost pile.  just clearing everything out for the winter and putting it properly to bed so that it can be ready again next spring.  i’ve also got garlic to plant – the only fall garden item that i followed through on for this year.  ah well, there’s always next time.

finishing touches

remember that fence we just put up?  and remember that catchy little poem i shared with you?  about the garden gate?  well we didn’t mention that on that wonderful day of fencing victory, we didn’t actually have a garden gate.  oops.

see? no gate!

but we were back a few days later making sure we did.  ross researched gates for hours and we finally came up with this little guy.  he’s super simple, but that’s really all we needed.  all the props go to ross for his amazing handy work.  i just played vanna.

meanwhile, i was working on the lone little box of garlic that needed to be planted.  knowing the design of the rest of the garden, i couldn’t just put the box anywhere.  i had to put it 14 feet from the entrance of the garden.  why?  because i’m OCD,  people, and when my design says 14 feet, i listen.

so of course 14 feet falls right smack in the middle of a 5 foot leaf pile, three berry bushes we planted last summer and several holes courtesy of the mutts.

hmm. looks like i have a couple of obstructions.

here are the cast of characters for operation:  rake leaves, move berry bushes, fill holes, and level out the ground.

bushes out:  check. (these guys didn’t get tossed – just relocated)

leaves raked: check.  now to just pick axe the heck out of it and rake it smooth.   no prob.

the box awaits a new home.  this is one of the two boxes that made up our garden this past year.

last year’s soil, also awaiting a new home.  recycling at its finest.

back at the gate, ross is starting to attach the doors to their posts.

ta dah!!

here’s a picture of the final product.  we backed the gate in the same wire fencing as the fence rails.  and there’s me in the background finally planting that garlic.

we designed the gate to swing open inwards toward the garden.  when its just us going through we’ll use the right side only; when we have a wagon or wheelbarrow to bring through, we’ll open both doors.  the gate spans five feet, the same width as the center aisle of the garden.  cool, right?

garlic cloves are really like little tulip bulbs.  just separate the biggest and the best from a head of garlic and pop those bad boys in root side down.

once these all got put in, i watered them and covered them in a couple inches of mulch to help them retain water and protect them from the elements.  only time will tell if these little guys will actually produce anything for me next summer.

so aside from a couple hundred pounds of leaves and some serious leveling and filling in of holes, our little garden is well on its way.