It is a beautiful Sunday here with an expected high of 68 degrees. A hard frost has not hit us here in the Pittsburgh area yet, giving me extra time to get the garden ready for the cold and cover my beds with hoops and row cover for season extension.
The leaves are beginning to change on the trees behind our house, and the cold nights leave a chill in the air for morning activities. Mulch is the word of the day. Organic material coming out of the beds from summer crops either goes to the chickens or gets laid directly on the soil as mulch and then covered with straw for a tidier appearance. In my commute to work or the store, I am on the lookout for leaves and brush that has been put out to the curb. I am ready to pick them up - leaves for chicken bedding and brush to add to our pile for when we borrow our friend's chipper. Wood chips will go to mulch perennial areas and to some paths.
I have also sowed some winter rye on the empty beds that have been cleared as a winter cover crop, and finally made some rodent guards to keep the apple trees safe from those that would want to gnaw their bark.
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| Sheet mulch beds from this spring with their fall crops |
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| Misato Rose Fall Radish coming along nicely and Danvers carrots. These will go under cover. |
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| Red Russian kale, arugula, various asian greens, and lettuces destined to be covered for winter, |
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| Butternut Squash Patch. Yield is 40 squash from 4 plants. |
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| Asparagus bed with kale, herbs, and volunteer amaranth. |
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| Straw mulch and 1/4" hardware cloth rodent guard to protect the young apple trees' bark from gnawing teeth, |
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