Well, the end of the active gardening season is basically here in my neck of the woods. We have had gloomy weather and rain on and off for about two weeks now. The weather stations are telling me we may be getting our first frost in the upcoming week. For Zone 5b, this is about perfect timing. The maps and almanacs give us an average first frost of October 15th. I really can’t believe that we are already almost to the middle of October!
I am trying to embrace the changing of the season to cooler weather this year. As is usual for me, I am finding this difficult. I am a heat lover. During the height of the summer, while everyone else is sick of the heat and humidity, you can usually find me sitting outside just enjoying the sun. As long as I have something cold to drink, the heat just doesn’t bother me. What does bother me is the middle of winter. I dislike the cold temperatures and the short days.
I have lived in this area my whole life and don’t think I am moving to a warmer climate anytime soon. So, I need to find a way to get over this doom and gloom I feel whenever it starts changing from summer to fall. My plan is to start learning more about season extension techniques. I have briefly explored different ideas, but will probably spend a lot of time this fall/winter learning what options are best for me and the area I live in.
With the cool weather and the first frost looming, I took the one sunny day we had this week to focus on getting the last of the garden cleaned up. I had previously spent a day or two getting spent crops out of the garden. I had already removed sweet corn, green beans, peas, and cucumbers. Additionally, I had already harvested all of my potatoes and onions, which are now sitting nicely in bushel baskets, waiting to be eaten up.
I did one final harvest of my main garden and got a pretty good haul. I was able to get a few bell peppers, around 60 poblano peppers, spaghetti squash, butternut squash, and patty pan squash. I was pretty pleased with what I got considering I had mostly neglected my garden for the last couple of weeks.
In addition to the garden clean-up, I’ve got some baby greens and mesclun mixes growing in my greenhouse. It only took about 5 days to see green sprouting through the dirt, which made me do a little happy dance. Being able to plant things in my greenhouse later in the year has been so exciting for me.
The only other thing hanging out in my greenhouse at this point is a dwarf lemon and lime tree I purchased last year. I decided to get these as a fun experiment, not really expecting much out of them. To my surprise, they have grown exponentially since I’ve had them and I am now hopeful that I may actually get fruit from them. They haven’t been much work, other than occasional pruning and fertilizing. I am trying to keep both of them outside for a long as possible this year, as it is much more difficult to keep up with the sunlight and humidity requirements indoors.
With the gardening season wrapping up, I have been spending way too much time dreaming about next year’s garden and making plans. I’ve also been thinking about purchasing a few items for season extension and tools to make my life easier. I am someone who really likes to stick to a budget, so I am trying to think of creative ways to pay for the new things I want to buy. Luckily, I’ve got plenty of time to figure that out.
Here’s to embracing the changing of the seasons!