Goodbye Garden

Thanks to a surprisingly warm fall, we enjoyed an extra-long season in the garden. Until of course we had that ridiculous blizzard in October, which effectively nipped most of the remaining plants. It was finally time for garden cleanup over the weekend.

I pulled up the peppers and bean plants, the dead herbs and dead flowers. I removed the black plastic from the beds, removed the towers and stakes and soaker hoses to store in the garage for the winter.

I carefully dug up the dahlia bulbs to over-winter in the basement, first laying them out to dry them in the sun on the patio. They need to cure a few days before hibernating. I’m amazed at how big some of the bulbs got.

The only things left are a few carrots that we have yet to eat, and some hardy rosemary and oregano that hasn’t died yet. My fall spinach never sprouted... I think the ground was too warm so I’ll try again in the spring. I plan to take down the deer netting so we don’t have to deal with it during the winter snow, but I want to protect the remaining produce for a few more weeks. It’s sad to say goodbye... but soon the seed catalogs will arrive and I can start planning next year’s garden.