More end of the season!

Just when I think I have everything under control, the leaves begin to fall and the plants start to die back.  It is then that I realize I have to make a decision...do I clean out the garden this fall or wait until spring.  Since the city will pick up leaves and other garden debris in fall free of charge the decision has become easier now that they charge for the special pick ups at any other time of the year.  I do compost quite a bit of the garden debris, but the tomato plants which can perpetuate diseases in the compost and other items that are closer to the curb than the compost are soon headed in that direction.


We had incredibly warm temperatures this weekend and no rain in the forecast, so this was the ideal moment.  Two days of pulling, cutting, moving, and toting became a united effort with my husband providing occasional support.  He had his list to get through with leaves in the gutters and a trailer to tuck away for winter.  I was grateful for every minute he was able to give.  I floated over into his duties as well, and we even got some help from our adult daughter and her boyfriend with the trailer.  Before long everything was done.  Hot baths and carry out pizza filled out the day.  It is good to have family involved with the tasks that we tackled alone when the kids were small.  Oh, they came out and raked leaves, but only to jump in the pile and scatter it again.  I enjoyed those days just as much as having their help this weekend.


The weather man is calling for low 30's and showers this evening and there were a few tasks still on my list.  I made the final run with the trowel and shovel and planted my garlic in the vegetable garden, muscari in the annual garden, and snow drops are under the sod where the dog used to lay and rest.  I moved the last of the herbs and perennials to other spaces that I had decided on earlier in the season to reduce crowding.  It feels good to have erased so many things off my list in that short period of daylight that was left after work. 


My first seed catalog arrived this weekend so it is time to start thinking ahead to next year while all my thoughts are still close to the surface.  It is a months long process in the planning, so it is never too early.  Grab a cup of hot tea and dream of what your summer garden is going to be with me.