It's November!

The days of the year are getting shorter. Halloween has come and gone and now it's time to start thinking Turkey. Looking around I see the change of the season. The trees are turning bright gold and orange, even brown. Less grass to mow. Gardens going to sleep. While we have already had a couple of frosts, the weather sure isn't accepting that it's Fall. Locally, the farmers are pretty much getting their fields ready for the winter slumber. Visually it looks like everything is done and it's time to hunker down for a "cold winter's nap".

Behind the scenes is another story. Once the gardens are set to rest, the mental work begins. Planning for next year. Figuring out what did well and didn't and trying to capitalize on that and hope your predictions are right.

I spend my winters thinking about what we did the past growing season and try to figure out how to do it better. "Did that new variety of whatever work well or should I go back to something old and tested". Thumbing through seed catalogs and dreaming of growing everything I see is a favorite past time of mine. Alas, I know my limits and try not to venture too far from my tried and true varieties.

Our greenhouse is doing very well. The volunteer mystery plants have been identified - Cucumbers. They are starting to send out their tendrils so a trellis of some sort must be installed. The volunteer tomato plants are thriving, as is the Basil. We planted Sugar Snap Peas last week and they are starting to come up. We are not having any problem keeping it heated at night when the temps get into the 40's. During the day it goes from as little as 10 degrees warmer to 50 degrees warmer than the outside air. That's calling for some close attention so it can be ventilated to regulate the temperatures. I'm looking forward to using it to start my transplants for next year's big garden. That should save me a ton of money as transplants are expensive in these parts. Plus I'll be able to start the plant varieties I prefer and know will do well in my garden. Many years I am restricted to what the garden centers offer.

So far, about 12 trees have been cut down. Still many more to go. Two are going to cause a real issue when their turn comes - pretty big size, they are leaning, and are too close to our storage shed and the pool. Those two will have to be cut down a few feet at a time. The goat is in pine needle heaven right now. She stays right at the pile of branches and has an all you can eat buffet. It's a good thing we don't milk her because the milk would taste awful.