Some Fall Blooms

I took a walk around the house today to get some pictures of what's blooming here in early November. The knock out roses, both the pink and the yellow, are still blooming. This is not unusual as I typically have blooms on them until early December and our first hard frost.

This Beauty Berry (callicarpa japonica) spilling through the split rail fence is at it's peak.

And while the Coral Bark Japanese maple isn't in 'bloom' it is quite beautiful this time of year!

What follows is a sampling of my sasanqua camellia collection. Not a collection so much as an assortment.  These shrubs do really well for use here and are very adaptable to our climate. They grow well in both full sun and part shade. No real pest problems to speak of. One year I had an outbreak of leaf gall (swelling and toughening of the leaves). I spent some time picking the affected leaves off, being careful not to touch the unaffected leaves. That seemed to have solved the problem.

 Snuck  in an Encore azelea bloom here in this picture.

This is an Oakleaf hydrangea. The leaves are a brilliant burgundy. 

Here we venture out into the veggie garden where we have some carrots and beets growing in the foreground. You may be able to make out the golden leaves of Simpson's black seeded lettuce in the background.

Here's a row of radishes. 

And here I've planted a much more reasonable amount of garlic this year. Last year I went way overboard and had far more than I needed and the bed got overrun with weeds. This year,  I might have around 50 plants.

Here you can see some of the strawberries I transplanted last weekend.

I am trying to let these broccoli plants go to seed this fall. I am hoping to be able to harvest my own seed to plant again in the spring. It may prove to be a waste of time, or free seeds, we shall see.

I am experimenting with growing some hard winter wheat this year. It looks pretty much like grass you find growing in your yard right now.

And the dogs enjoy eating the tender young shoots.

The bees get active on the warm days like this weekend. We are supposed to be up around 70 degrees for our high all weekend. 

You may be able to make out my blackberry plants in the picture below. I planted these 2 winters ago, the deer like to graze on them so I haven't had any berries yet. 

Here are some crimson clover seedlings coming up in one of the garden beds. I plant it as a cover crop to nurish the soil. I'll turn it under on the first dry day after mid-March. I want to give it 5 weeks or more to break down before I plant the summer crops in this bed. 

Here you can see I've cut down the asparagus stalks and top dressed the bed with a couple inches of compost. This one bed with 24 crowns is plenty to feed DW and I for about 6 weeks in spring. 

Tomato planting day

Yesterday was tomato (and pepper) planting day here. I got out in the garden early and mowed the grass/weeds in the garden and got started by stretching my first level of sting on my posts (which I had beaten into the ground a couple weeks ago). Then it was on hands and knees to start planting all 72 tomato plants. This year I am growing Black from Tula, Early Girl, German Johnson, Better Boy, Dixie Golden Giant, Celebrity and Mortgage Lifter.
 I have a somewhat simple method for planting my tomatoes. First I brush back the mulch, then I place about a half cup of Gardentone (from Espoma) on the spot where I dig the hole. I mix the fertilizer in with the soil as I remove it from the hole. I dig deep enough to plant the entire rootball a few inches below the soil line. Then I add a handful of worm castings to the bottom of the whole ( I feed my worms all sorts of things and include crushed egg shells for the calcium it gives to both the worms and my tomatoes) and put the plant in on top of the castings and then backfill the hole. After each tray gets planted I stop and give myself a break from being on all fours and water the transplants in.

 I started at 8:30am and finished at around 2:00pm and here are the results.

 Other than planting sweet potatoes and watermelons, I think I have everything in the garden planted. The beans I planted a couple weeks ago sprouted, and some of them got nipped by the late frost. I pulled those out and gave them to the chickens, and popped some new seeds in the empty holes.

 The garlic bed is growing well, and I should have a good crop this year.
The potatoes got a little damage from the frost, but the lettuce came through unscathed. And the Early Sprouting broccoli is starting to form heads.

Turning the compost pile

Winter, or what passes for it here, has arrived. It is cold and wet, having rained hard yesterday. I am certainly glad I have already turned over the soil in the early season beds. This time of year it will take quite some time for the soil to dry out enough to turn it and we are in the time frame for planting peas. I had hoped to put mine out this weekend, but the soil is too wet. The weather forecast is for rain for two days and sun for two days, rinse and repeat for the next week or two. I'll probably put the peas in next weekend, so long as it's not raining. I can't wait for the soil to dry out or it will get too late and the peas will get tough and starchy if they ripen in the hotter temps.
 There wasn't much to do in the gardens today, but I did get on the tractor and turn the compost pile. If you are curious, this is my little tractor here.

 These are the compost bins were the whole process starts.

The pile on the left is the older one. It has the remains of the ornamental grass I cut back a few weeks back, and the bedding of the neighbors barn (seen in the background). It has already taken on a nice rich chocolate color and it was good and hot inside the pile.
 The pile on the right is fresh bedding from this week's clean out.
This is what the two finished piles look like.

The pile on the left is almost gone, maybe a yard left .  I'll be using it and the other pile to amend the summer beds with and to use as mulch on them as well. By that time the pile that is in the bins will be pretty much ready and I'll move it out here to make room in the bins for the summer.
 You can see the standing water behind the pile from yesterday's downpour.

And for those who may be wondering, here are the two surviving chickens.

A view of the garlic bed.

As you can see, the garlic is doing well. We haven't had anything near a hard freeze this year, so they'll keep growing. Even a hard freeze won't do too much harm. Garlic is a pretty hardy plant.