The Fall Blitz

It is fall, and we have finally had a hard HARD frost. Yep, those annuals and perennials that were hanging on, have had it. They're all flopping and yellow today, and the ice crystals on their leaves are sparkling in the sunshine.

I am one of those gardeners who let things go until they cannot be left alone any more. The perfect model calls for garden clean up like Martha Stewart's test kitchens... immaculate. Not here. I usually let it go for the sake of the birds. I am especially fond of the giganterous sunflowers that grow 12 feet tall and have seed heads the size of turkey platters. Right now, as I type, I watch the blue jays having a feasting festival on those babies.

I also leave the echinacea and black eyed susans which used to look like this. No more. But the seeds are primo.

 

This gorgeous plant is another one that finches seem to love, so I leave them standing, too. Verbena bonariensis. The purple color lasted all the way through October. Only with this latest frost have the colors faded... but the seeds are still there, and I will leave them that way.

Out in the veggie garden, most of the clean up has been done. Plants pulled and chopped up for the compost pile. Leeks, carrots, spinach, chard and broccoli are still there, though waiting for a final harvest. Wow, what a difference between summer and now, eh?!

Fall is such a great time to plant for the future. We decided the old red dilish apple tree was just not worth the effort (mealy apples, diseased leaves, tons of pruning in early spring), so Mr. Wonderful hacked her down this weekend. The apple wood will be gorgeous in the wood stove next season, and in her place we have had a 12 foot service berry tree planted. Service berry trees are bird candy, and I am really excited for the bird action it will generate. Plant now, and wait, wait, wait. All good things take some waiting, yes?

We also whacked back (hard) the old willow tree to the east of the house. A new roof was installed this September, and that willow was just too close to coming down on it, ..... so, poof, gone. Well, not entirely gone. The main trunk remains and will, we are assured, sprout more branches some spring. Add that to our garden clean up this month! The fun continues….

  

But the most fun (or the funnest, as Mr. W. likes to say), will be the new pole barn. Gravity has been working overtime to slowly, glacially take down the old barn that we loved so well. With so much else to do, we have been letting nature take its course. One section of unattached roof made its final leap last week. Everything else is soooooo slowliy tilting to the east or west.

We're making progress. Progress, not perfection. Progress is good.