Yard work day

I spent all day today -- 6 hours all together -- working in the yard. My first project was to weed the rose garden. The weeds weren't bad, but I was surprised to find my roses in the early stages of a very late second bloom. Obviously I don't give those guys the TLC they deserve, or I'd have known weeks ago that this was coming. Now I'm really hoping that first frost stays away for a couple more weeks so I can enjoy them!


Next project: pruning the tomatoes. I cut off all the low branches that weren't bearing fruit, and thinned them by cutting out anything that was looking old & unhealthy. Believe it or not, it took me three hours to do all this! I found hidden pockets of ripe tomatoes all over the place too, so now I've got three full bowls of tomatoes to eat/freeze/get rid of. Once again, I'm hoping that first frost is a ways off, because there are lots of tomatoes still to ripen. Added bonus: I managed to expose B's pepper plant to the sun. It had been hidden by the tomato jungle. The kid loves yellow bell peppers, and what kind of vegetable-pushing, gardening mom would I be if I didn't grow him some?

PS - Do you think it's crazy to talk to your tomatoes as you're pruning? Any time I accidentally cut off a branch with tomatoes on it, or broke one, or knocked off an unripe tomato, I apologized. Yes, out loud. I think they like it.




Next project: start work on the new, giant vegetable garden we're prepping for next year. It'll be 10' wide by about 15' long. I measured it out, moved the butterfly bush that was growing inside the garden-to-be to a new location, then sprayed glyphosphate on the grass to kill it. In another week or two, we'll build the sides (it's going to be a raised bed, at least on three sides) and transfer the remains of our giant compost pile into the new garden. I'm hoping I won't have to buy a single vegetable next summer. We're even thinking of coordinating with the next-door neighbors when we plan our gardens in the spring, so we don't grow all the same stuff & can share.

Next up: moving a few things in my xeriscape garden. One little veronica and a wine cup that started out as three leaves and is now a foot in diameter were getting crowded, so I moved them to a more open spot. I still need to move some ice plant that is totally underneath the yarrow now. I can hardly believe it's only been about four months since I planted this garden. It's grown like crazy! I credit the magic compost for most of it. Seriously, I hardly ever even water this garden. Once every 2-3 weeks at the most. Look at that sage -- it's about waist-high!


And I love sedum in all its forms. This is currently my prettiest sedum: