Fall Chores

By now I’m usually done with my fall chores. But this fall is so warm I’ve procrastinated big time. We had our annual freeze in September and then a few weeks more of summer, followed by some snow storms in October and regular 20 degree nights, even one 10 degree night. But now it’s November and at 8000’ we’re still getting highs in the 60’s, lows in the 30’s. This week the weather is changing so now I’m rushing to get things done and put away.

One thing that differentiates here from the Northeast where I originate is the intense sun. Our sun is too intense at times, making a beautiful 70 degree day too hot if you’re working in the full sun trying to get your fall garden chores done. But the intense sun is great for growing tomatoes in a sunny window in the winter. I just picked my first indoor tomato – yum!

I also have a few cold frames filled with lettuce, spinach, rapini, golden beets, carrots, cilantro & parsley. & I still have chard growing in the garden. I’d have brussel sprouts too but the cabbage moth hit them hard this year so I pulled them. Growing up I always liked that pretty white butterfly with the single black dots on each wing. Never knew I’d grow up to find them to be a pest. I still like them flying around my gardens, I just need to pay closer attention to their arrival so I can cover my cabbage and mustard green crops with a light cloth.

Up here we don’t have many deciduous trees, mostly conifers. Each year I beg for bagged leaves from my friends in lower elevations. The intense sun here will cause frequent mid-winter thaws that can push shallow rooted plants right out of the ground. To prevent this, I use a thick coat of leaves to put my beds to rest for the winter after the ground freezes. What doesn’t blow away or degrade is incorporated into the soil or raked off come spring and put in the compost bins. I don’t do this to my rock garden since that has a thick layer of pea gravel and those plants are fine. On my veggie garden beds I use straw or grow cover crops.

I also toss out a mole repellent product I get at GardensAlive.com. It’s the best product I’ve found for controlling moles and other ground burrowing pests. I’m also experimenting with a cayenne repellent for the field mice (aka voles.) I adopted some feral cats but although they come to the house to eat the food I put out they seem to hunt everywhere but near my gardens.

I don’t do a lot of garden clean up in the fall, saving most of it for spring. I think many plants provide winter interest and others are more protected by the leaves and snow that collect in their foliage. But I do cut back the plants that need it. I also try to prepare my tools for spring, but I could be better about that. No more procrastinating, I better get out there before it snows. :-)

Happy Gardening!