Garden Friday

Welcome to Garden Friday, y'all!
We have been loving the weather this week.
Can you believe it's already November?
Here's what's going on in our garden.

We were blessed to receive a ton of bulbs from a couple of friends.

These are day lilies that will bloom in springtime.

Many had been given away to some of the Master Gardeners,

but we still had an ample amount to decorate our property.

Since these hadn't been divided as soon as was ideal,

the root system was fairly outta control.

I trimmed them a bit and also cut the tops down to a few inches.

If day lilies are too crowded, they don't bloom as well,

so it really is advisable to divide them every few years.

The bonus is that you have some to share!

The best tool for the job of digging them up as well as planting them is a pitch fork.
When you are retrieving them from the ground,
it lifts them up without much trauma.
When they are being installed,
loosening up the soil just a bit makes them easier to plant.
As a no-till gardener, I try to disturb the soil as little as possible.

As you can see here, we have friends in low places.

After removing any dead leaves, the lilies were planted near the surface.
Firmly tamping them down with your hand helps the roots get established in their new home.

They will happily hibernate all winter long

and come spring, we should have a pleasing pop of orange and yellow color.

Placing the branches as a border will ensure

that the mower stays away from the tender bulbs.

 In the veggie beds, slow but steady progress is giving us hope.

This premium kale variety is actually getting some size to it.

I can't wait to harvest and taste it for the first time.

I've never grown this particular kale before,

but so far, I've never met a kale I didn't like!

 The 4 Seasons lettuce that germinated is beginning to grow.

This was directly seeded in the hugelkultur bed,

and this is one of the only lettuce varieties that actually came up.

An improvement in the tat soil was noticed this week.

I'm not sure if it was just waiting for cooler temperatures,

but it seems to be doing better.

This Chinese green is a wonderful addition to salads.

 I'm hopeful that these golden beets will 

be able to be transplanted to one of the raised beds.

 Two types of chard were transplanted from cell packs

to the hugelkultur bed.

This is the first time I'm growing this crop,

but my neighbor swears it's the best thing since sliced bread.

Time will tell.

The container broccoli is doing well since being fertilized.

I'll continue to add the turkey poop every month until harvest.

We are also still getting lots of blossoms,

although we've had close to frost these past few mornings.

The nasturtiums should do well for quite some time. 

 The profusion of pigment has surprised me this close to Thanksgiving.

I've been able to cut some blooms to bring in the house.

Time was taken to prune a few evergreens as well,

to add some seasonal elements to our indoor space.

 The alyssum thrives at this time of year.

It is spilling out all over our front butterfly bed

and the pollinators have taken notice.

So grateful to be able to provide food for our friends.

The lantana has been flowering nonstop since late spring.

This is one plant that keeps on giving.

It will be interesting to see what happens once the real cold hits.

Will it come back?

We'll have to wait and see!

 Soon, it will be time once again to gather leaves

so that our leaf bin can be filled with compost helpers.

It's a big job, but an activity I relish.

A fellow gardener in the neighborhood has already told me

that he plans to ask neighbors for leaves,

so I will have my competition for this valuable resource.

 Even the lemongrass is nodding toward autumn.

This year an experiment will be performed.

I will cut back the larger of the two plants and cover it with mulch,

while leaving this smaller plant uncovered for the winter months.

If this one doesn't make it, I'll still have the other to divide in the spring.

This year finds me so grateful to be living this seasonal life.

It just feels right in a way that living in Florida

(with 9 months of summer)

never did.

 Autumn has us slowing down just a bit,

readying us for colder weather and more time indoors.

For now though, as much time as possible is being spent

in the great outdoors.

Soon our suet feeders will be full,

and we will enjoy the knowledge that nature is part of who we are

and we can do our part to get them through the months to come.

What a remarkable responsibility.