Color or Character

I love the analogy of getting old with getting better, but I wonder sometimes if I am getting more colorful or just becoming a character. Where did September go--one day I was thinking my tomatoes would never ripen and the next I was harvesting the potatoes and watching the leaves fall. So, you want some thoughts on winterizing the garden.
One of the things that is the most satisfying about growing a garden is when all the produce is gathered in and the weeds are all tilled under. Some how looking out at the garden all brown and resting, knowing that the vegis are in the root room makes me feel safe from the winter winds.
So, the first thing is to gather the produce and then remove all the plants, if you want you can form a compost pile and add all the plants to it. Don't add weeds or when you use the compost it will be full of weed seeds. Next till or spade the soil. This will get roots up and also aerate the soil and the winter freeze will break up clods if your ground is clay. Now is a good time to add manure to the soil cause it will have all winter to break down.
The whole yard will benefit this time of year from an application of weed spray. The weeds are going dormant also and will pull the killer down into their roots and they won't reappear in the spring.
Now is a good time to move perennials or plant some new ones. The nurseries have sales on leftover plants and the warm soil and cool temperatures make the plants build roots quickly and they will come up in the spring looking great. I'm going to move a hosta and some ferns this fall so that they will be where the sprinkler system will water them next year.
You can take in some flowering plants at night and stave off their death a few more weeks or after a light frost, trim the tops and store the root bulb for the winter where it won't freeze. Then replant next spring and save buying new plants like begonias every year.

A New Leaf

Or rather an old one...
Isn't it strange how one day you can be saying things such as, "My, it is blazing hot out here...summer has certainly over-stayed it's welcome..." And the next day be saying, "Gee, it's actually pretty chilly and I'm going to grab my jacket."
Welcome to the West!
It has been rainy and cold the past several days here in the Salt Lake City. Which has been nice to save water, but a little dampening, on both my plants and my poor head. I find that my hair tends to move its way up onto my head more often in the rain...good common sense I believe. It's going to eventually end up there anyway, might as well start it out that way and save myself some time.
The leaves have been changing. You know its funny we say that. Really the leaves are getting old, but we avoid the application there and instead focus on the color change. Maybe that is something we should do as we age too...don't focus on the fact that we're getting old, just that our colors are changing. And hopefully we're making that color change a spectacular one!
I like it.
My garden decided to peeter out with the sun. Earlier this month I saw little baby squash beginning to come out and my pumpkins were getting bigger and my cucumbers were a plenty...then suddenly my little babies stopped. The vines looked saggy and some even wilted! This of course caused stunted growth and therefore I ate a watermelon last night the size of a softball, "and it tasted mighty fine, but I'd rather have a juicy BIG watermelon rind." Sorry...got off on a little tune there. So, I have begun to gather up the last of my crops and have started planning my winterizing. Bother, I was really hoping for some good sized punpkins for Halloween. But mini pumpkins are fun too! Here are some shots of my dying greens.

Oh my bad!! That just me in MEXICO!!
Here is the garden...we'll start with the corn.

Sorry, on it's side you can still tell it's getting husky.
Here are the browning vines:

Sadly, all of the vines are now this color.They look sick...are they?

And the watermelons stopped growing...

Poor little guys.They are still rather tasty like I said.

But, a ray of sunshine among the dreary...my roses re-bloomed!!!

GORGEOUS!!!! I came across it and had to just sigh.

Now would be the time for the Marmy to write a little article on the best tips of winterizing...hint hint...