When the gardening is over...

[stonysoilseeds]

oops meant 6am before work when the killing frost hiys the plants blacken and loose turgidity... this yr im extending mt season by planting falll and winter greens

[PA_Julia]

In October when my plots are done I will roto till amendments into the areas and prepare for winter downtime.
I'm already saving seeds and planning my " Garden Of The Giants " for next season.

I have two remaining tomatoes on my Big Zac plants I'm hoping will breach the 3.00 LB mark for me this season.

After that's done, my garden is done for the year.

It all happened so quickly, where did summer go to anyway Hmmmm?

[edweather]

Frankly, I'm happy when the gardening season is over.....I need a break. Usually bite off more than I can chew, and it becomes "The Job (Joy) of Gardening." With a busy schedule, wife, son, house, pool, yard, job, yada, yada......I'm happy when winter comes. The gardening bug usually hits again in the winter, and then the promise I made to myself last year of "growing less next year," goes out the window, and I bite off more than I can chew again. The beat goes on.

[gixxerific]

I myself like to grow dwarfs inside under lights. I have several variety's going now for growouts. They are F1 - F2 so that makes it more interesting. Like Ed said before me it is nice to get a break after all the termoil of a long hot summer. But when you are looking for a certain trait in breeding it keeps the interest up.

I may also grow lettuce and whatever else I want to see if it can be grown indoors in a cold Mo winter.

[lakelady]

You know, I was just thinking the same thing...I need a break. It's a whole lot of work and I too, while sad it is ending, get a bit weary of the neverending tending to with the garden, and job, and house, and kids etc. No time for much of anything else. Autumn provides a welcome break and it's just enough that after the holidays, I too, get OCD and go crazy with seed catalogs tapping fingers on the table waiting for the mailman to deliver them

And you MUST inhale the intoxicating aroma of a real fresh lilac, it is the ultimate sign spring is finally arrived for me. I have one right outside my office window here, and when the breezes blow, and the scent wafts through window, it's so beautiful, truly. Hmm...I think I need to plant more of them!

[Deborah]

Antoniette, you mean thing !

[habitat_gardener]

Deborah, you don't need to go all the way across the Rockies and beyond to sniff lilacs. Just come to Northern California in the spring. I grew a lilac from a 4-inch cutting I got at a plant exchange into a nice potted shrub. It lasted a couple years in the pot and then the roots blocked the drainage hole and it drowned. If I had a place to grow another one, I would. It's nothing like the 20-ft. lilacs I used to see on my college campus; they get only about 6 ft. or so here.

I grow blueberries, too, including Pink Lemonade. They're all in containers now.

Oh, I recalled that some of the lilac varieties that do well here came from Descanso Gardens in southern Calif. So you don't even have to come all the way up here.
http://articles.latimes.com/2010/apr...lilac-20100417

[lakelady]

Originally Posted by Deborah

Antoniette, you mean thing !

Aww...I know you can find lilacs in California! You folks have lots of flowers that just do not grow here in New England, so I'm always wishing I could just sniff through my pc monitor! I guess each locale has it's own beauty and uniqueness!

[bughunter99]

Originally Posted by Deborah

what do you do garden wise when the cold weather comes?

Early fall: Plant bulbs, plant garlic, plant cover crops, net pond.

Fall after the first hard frost: 1. dig up the all the bulbs that won't survive the winter and bring them in. 2. Garden clean up. 3. Bed prep with manure and chopped leaves. 4. Winterize pond

Late fall: Build the ice rink

Winter: shovel and skate and start planning the seed purchases!

[kenny_j]

Ed, my sentiments exactly, I am tomatoed out, having eaten 5 times my weight in tomatoes this summer, and oh what a full time job it has been!! Promising to scale back for next year.

[Father'sDaughter]

I've found that if you grow more than tomatoes, it helps to find low maintenance crops that free you to focus on your tomatoes during peak season. My second bed had garlic and onions, now it has peas, turnips, carrots, chard, and spinach growing in their place. I also have pole beans, brussels sprouts, cucumbers, Zucchini, peppers, herbs and eggplants, all of which you just need to keep an eye on and harvest as needed.

Oh, and I forgot one other thing I do after the gardening is over-- enjoy all the canned, pickled, and dried veggies throughout the winter, hoping that I won't run out before I can harvest next year's crop!

[edweather]

It's a Catch-22 for me. I choose all low maintainence stuff to grow, but that doesn't leave me any free time. It just gives me more time to plant more tomatoes or low maintainence veggies until I have a high maintainence garden again. I'm screwed either way. Poor Eddie.

[epsilon]

"When the gardening is over, Then I give you permission to dine!" Sorry couldn't help it.

Usually after all its said and done, begin planning next year's layout, then it's back to focussing on completing my dual major..

[Deborah]

Habitat, thank you ! I'll look into it !
Love all these replies ! Fun !

[gixxerific]

Forgot to mention all the planning for next years garden. Getting beds ready cleaning up the huge mess that somehow seems to gather every year even though you TRY to keep up. Lest we not forget keeping up with the forums to get that fix, browsing catalogs, surfing for garden videos. It never ends you even dream of it and think long and hard before sleep as well about what will come next.

Gardening is part of us some more than others. Me, it's got me by the coat tails and aint letting go.