October is coming in pretty much in a normal manner. Progress has been made in cleaning up and renewing the perennial beds. I've recorded in my garden journal the bulk of my efforts to date and admittedly, this late in the gardening season, entering every gardening record is becoming somewhat of an effort. But, I know it will help me in the future as a gardener resource. My backyard journal should be used as a guide in garden bed planning to keep me on track in my low budget gardening efforts. Now, more than ever, I desire to use my garden journals as a garden history journal to prevent me from making many repeated mistakes because I realize that I am now longer physically able, or desire, to spend a lot time correcting mistakes. I must spend more time in garden bed planning in the future and as the old carpenter saying goes "measure twice and cut once". October is a month of opportunities and endings. Opportunities abound in October to plant and prepare for the future. Perennial beds are best renewed in October. Trees, shrubs and other perennials are best planted now and there is normally no shortage of mulch with the falling leaves. For those who will take time to properly prepare, October is a great time to plant many vegetable crops to grace your table and provide the gardener with a vast improvement over those store-bought offerings. October is also a month with opportunities to start preparing for next years gardening efforts. Cover crops and mulches that will improve the soil next year are put in place. Many structures such as permanent trellises, arbors, retaining walls, raised beds and the like are best installed in the fall so that they are ready when the spring planting season arrives. For many, October is the month when they start putting away many garden tools for the winter. If a little extra time is spent properly cleaning and preparing those tools before you put them away, they will be ready when it's time to renew your efforts in the spring. October is also the month when we start seeing many birds that we see at no other time of the year as they migrate to warmer climates. This becomes the perfect opportunity for gardeners and outdoor lovers alike to offer a food and water source to help them along their journey. The addition of a water source kept free of ice with a heater near a feeder or two will provide many hours of enjoyment this month and all winter long. the "Hillbilly Gardener"
Friday, October 2, 2009 - Dug the bed area where the squash was planted and planted the garlic. I planted the cloves 6 inches apart in the row and rows 6 inches apart in a checkerboard pattern. This put all plants in a 6 inch by 6 inch pattern. I ended up with 32 cloves in the ground, which will hopefully yield 32 bulbs. I had many cloves left over (even after only using the large cloves) to use fresh. Two pounds (two orders of one variety each) yielded enough cloves that I could have planted 1/2 of a full bed or an area of 4 feet by 6 feet. The temperature only got up to about 65 degrees, but the wind blew pretty much steady at 15 to 25 miles per hour all day long. This made it feel very cool (OK - downright cold to me) and forced the hood up on my windbreaker . Saturday, October 3, 2009 - We put up Halloween decorations today. To us, this marks the beginning of the holiday season and I look forward to it all year long. After Halloween, some of the decorations will remain and be added to in preparation for Thanksgiving. Little else got done today and nothing in the garden other than some watering. While watering the nursery bed, I found that a cat had already got up in the bed, dug it all up and placed a big pile of stinking crap right in the middle of one of the Cranesbill plants. This will need to be removed after it dries a little because cat crap will kill a plant. I really hate cats that are allowed to run loose. Sunday, October 4, 2009 - The day started out as what I would consider an October morning. It (to me) was cold, with the temperature at 0630 only 48 degrees F and a breeze. The breeze made it feel colder to me this morning. The day was pretty much set aside to focus on some maintenance items. We spent some time weeding with a hoe and then picked up a lot of things that had been left lying around the yard, like bricks from various projects. My son had built a fire in the fire pit the night before and there were enough coals left to build it back up. So my son and I got the fire restarted and kept a small fire going pretty much all day. The smell was wonderful and the fire was a welcome place to warm up a few times today. After getting a few maintenance items done, I did get out and put down the landscaping fabric along the "no-plant" zone of the bed area I have finished in the south perennial bed. I will cover this with a light covering of grass clippings for now. I am kicking around the idea of developing this area further with some edging and perhaps some decorative gravel later. But, I'm not real wild about trying to keep decorative gravel clean. So for now, I'll stick with a little bit of grass mulch and cogitate the issue further. But, I do not want anything growing in this area that is under the area. Before putting down any mulch, I'll install a customized soaker hose system through the area for next years watering. Back To Top Monday, October 5, 2009 - Started back to work today. This will greatly help the money available for my low budget gardening efforts. My biggest concern is that going back to work will tire me out to where there is little energy left at the end of the day for gardening. Another concern is that it will be getting dark by the time I arrive home. I will need to start gardening by lights strung out again. I've gardened by floodlight many times in the past. So I guess it won't hurt to do it again. The weather man is calling for rain to set in this evening and rain for the next three days. Tuesday, October 6, 2009 - It rained last night and today to the tune of 1 1/8 inch. Starting back to work ha made me realize that "time management" is going to be a big concern. Getting off at 1800 (06:00 PM) puts me getting home about 1930 (07:30 PM) by the time I get out of the plant. It's getting pretty dark by the time I get home. By the time I rest awhile and get myself together, it's 2030 to 2130 (08:30 - 09:30 PM) and I don't feel much like working outside. I guess I have to work this out over time. There's always the weekend I guess. Thursday, October 8, 2009 - It started in raining Wednesday evening and rained non-stop until Friday. Between Wednesday evening and 05:00 AM Friday morning, we received 5 1/2 inches of rain. The temperatures have also taken a dramatic nose-dive, with the highs only getting into the upper 40's. YIKES! Talk about fall falling all at once! Back To Top Friday, October 9, 2009 - It was still raining most of the morning and remained cloudy and very cool today, with the thermometer not getting above 48 degrees F. I finally was forced to bring in the house plants. I probably should have brought them in before now, but I thought it was going to remain warmer than it has been and tonight they're calling for it to get down to around 32 degrees F. As is the case every year, I've gotten so busy with so many other things, I'm not ready for a frost. Saturday, October 10, 2009 - Got out of work about 03:20 this morning and was surprised to find ice on the windshield (not frost - ICE). The thermometers on the banks read 35 degrees F @ 03:30. On the way home there was copious fog and what a feeling of fall. At home, I noticed ice forming on the windshield of the truck. The thermometer on the porch read 36 degrees F. so I would say it was right at 33 to 32 degrees F. at the ground. Thank goodness the ground hasn't yet cooled off enough for frost to form here. Getting out this afternoon, I saw no signs of frost yet. But it's still a little early for the effects to show up. The forecast is for more of the same tonight. Taking a walk today revealed that many of the Maples are starting to peak in color and they are beautiful. I think it's time to start taking a drive now and then. Sunday, October 11, 2009 - It's still way to muddy after all of the rain the other day so I took a walk with my son and granddaughter. There was a lot of pretty foliage to see s I took a few pictures. I really enjoyed the walk this time of year. More people should take time off to just take a walk. Taking a look at the Almanac, this winter is forecast to be wetter and colder than normal with a lot of snow. I'm not a big fan of snow anymore and I never did care much for the cold of winter. Back To Top Tuesday, October 13, 2009 - It's continued to drizzle and rain the last 2 days. Nothing heavy, just a light drizzle off and on with nearly continuous mist. For the last 2 days we've only had about 1/4 inch of rain and it's been very cool with temperature highs only staying in the 50's. Very much below normal. The hours of the new position at work are really messing with getting anything done here at home, but I'll adjust (hopefully). From one standpoint, the hours are great if you have to work, but they are difficult if you want to do things at home. But, at this point, it's like the old saying goes - "I owe, I owe, so off to work I go" I do have things and projects inside that I need to do that will keep me busy. But I've got to re-adjust to working and to these hours. Thursday, October 15, 2009 - October has manifested itself with rain, rain and more rain thus far. Along with the rain has been cool temperatures. As I am working on this entry this morning, I am sitting here watching the leaves start to fall with greater fervor and thinking about the fact that I will need to start harvesting leaves real soon and how much I need to get done yet this fall. The bed remake didn't get nearly as far along as I would have liked, but everything I got or get done this fall is just that much I don't have to do next year. Sunday, October 18, 2009 - The garlic is sprouting and from the sprouts thus far, the germination of the softneck garlic is nearly 100%, but the hardneck garlic hasn't started to sprout yet. I'm impressed right now and I like the 6 x 6 spacing. There really hasn't been any activity outside otherwise. It has been raining nearly every day or two. Back To Top Friday, October 23, 2009 - As far as gardening is concerned, it has been non-existent around here for the past three weeks. I don't recall an October that has been so rainy, cloudy and unseasonably cool nearly constant like this year. Over the course of the last week, we've gotten more than two inches in nearly constant little drizzles. I got out and covered some of the fall crops again for the second time this fall. The forecast is for lows in the mid to low 30's with scattered frost. This is not at all unusual, but it comes in the midst of an entire month (the last four weeks) of very rainy, cool and cloudy weather with quite a bit of wind to make it feel even cooler. On a brighter note, the fall colors have been spectacular this year. I've really enjoyed taking walks or drives to enjoy the colors. The new position at work has been a killer as far as free time for doing outside work during the week. It is my plan at this time to get downstairs tomorrow and get the light garden going again. Most of the houseplants will overwinter there instead of in the house this year because room has become a premium now and with the holidays, we'll need every square foot we can get our hand on. In the light garden this year, I plan on getting some lettuce and other greens going. This will be the first time in many years since I've grown edible crops in a light garden, I'm looking forward to doing it again. From the standpoint my garden journal, this year I've gotten tired of simply writing about the rain and weather. But, from a weather standpoint, this has been such an unusual year. From the standpoint of what I had planned, it has been a disaster for me. But not just the weather. The surgery hip replacement earlier this year, the rehab and its limitations, the family, starting back to work at a totally different position, and yes, the financial burden that comes from trying to live on disability pay. Actually, I'm just plain tired and ready for it to come to an end for this year. Actually, I'm just ready for less to get done so I can get some rest I think. But, such is life, so back to work I go. Nobody promised any rose gardens. Actually, it can be a lot of work to have a spectacular rose garden. So maybe it's best that no one gave me one. Friday, October 30, 2009 - Rain, rain, rain and more rain - that's about all it's done in October. There's been a day here and a day there, where it's been pleasant and sunny. But, never more than a day or two and seldom when I was off and able to enjoy them. In fact, it rained 1 3/4 inch over the last 24 hours. Saturday, October 31, 2009 - In a strange twist, I ended this month with a sunny, pleasant day and it's Halloween to boot. A started harvesting leaves today. Like the rest of this year, this is the latest I've ever gotten in a started harvesting leaves. But, no matter, the new plantings are getting covered well. The front area got covered with newspaper and then about 4 to 6 inches of ground leaves as well as the landscape fabric. I still think covering the fabric with leaves is a mistake. Back To Top the "Hillbilly Gardener" | 
