Starting Fall Cleanup

The weather has turned very fall-like with no prospects for any more warm weather. Today may be our last day in the 70s. So I pulled out the tomatoes, after picking any that were close to being ripe. I also pulled the aubergine, the cucumbers, and the peppers except for the Mad Hatter. The Mad Hatter peppers are still green, so I'm going to give them a little longer in the ground before I pull the plant up and hang it upside down in the garage. I'd really like to get some to turn red.

Last week I pulled up the melons and dug up the rhubarb. We just don't use enough of it to justify the space it takes. We've also pulled out all the strawberry plants. I'll start new ones next year in a different bed.

I've left the zucchini for now, as it still has some squash coming. But without much heat they may not make it. The plant really looks ugly, covered with mildew.

I still have snap peas, lettuce, and bok choi, which has been a great success.

Fall Cleanup

Because we are leaving on a cruise on October 17, I decided we need to start fall cleanup early.  We ordered an extra green waste bin for a couple of weeks and have been filling them both to capacity.  By now, though, things are pretty much done.  All that is left of the vegetable garden is carrots, leeks, and chard. 

We have new neighbors next door.  The house has been empty for two and a half years, and I had forgotten how open the view into their back yard was.  So we put up more reed fencing and added two more Black Tower elderberries.  They have a bit of catching up to do to next to the older ones.  But they do seem to grow fairly fast. 

More Cleanup

With the rain and cooler weather, the tomatoes were looking sad, so I've pulled them out.  I also pulled the peppers and aubergines.  And the old strawberry bed has also been cleaned out.  I dug in a bag of dry leaves in each one.  Those are the only beds that are empty right now.

The Beckyberries were already becoming too dense, so I trimmed all side shoots up to the where they were tied to the wires.  At some point I'll have to let a few new shoots develop.

We decided that we were not really enjoying the various blackberries out in front, so those have been removed.  The raspberries are still there.

The spinach that I planted a week ago is up.  I hope it has time to grow before it gets really cold.

Fall Cleanup Part II

Since we're leaving on our cruise in two days, I decided it's time to do some more cleanup.  I removed all the plants from my nice glazed pots.  Some went in the ground, some into plastic pots for now until I decide what to do with them.

It's also time for the tomatoes to go.  I pulled the last ones and added two big bags of leaves to the bed.  (I've collected eight bags in the neighborhood, so I still have plenty.)

I had planned on pulling out the squash plants, too, but they are still looking good and there are lots of squash coming.  So I left them for now.

The weather continues to be beautiful, except for fog on some mornings.  The cosmos that reseeded have started to form flower buds.  I decided not to tell them that winter is coming.  I'll let them enjoy life a little longer.

I found two more nice heads of cauliflower, so I picked them and will freeze them.  There are still several very small heads, which I'll leave and hope they'll be okay when we return.   We're about to O.D. on squash.  Waste not, want not.

Fall Cleanup

Today was nice but cool (55) so I decided it was time to start cleaning up the garden.  It's my second favorite thing to do in the garden, after planting.  I love getting everything out and the beds neat and tidy.

I took out all the pepper plants, harvesting the remaining fruit.

I picked a few squash while I was at it.  They're still producing, so they get to stay a little longer.

Next to go was the basil.  It has started dropping leaves, so it's pretty much done.

Then I tackled the tomatoes.  I left the cherry tomato, even though they're pretty tasteless and are cracking with all the rain.  Maybe they'll get better if it dries out.  I also left the Debarao paste tomato.  It still has quite a few green tomatoes and some that are close to ripening.  I really like this tomato.

The winter stuff is really looking good.