Fall Waning Harvest Moon
The last forty bulbs, a monet tulip collection, have gone in the ground. I planted a couple of hundred daffodil and tulips at various spots in the orchard, which we see from the table while eating breakfast. The others, more daffodils and tulips along with a bunch of new lilies, went into the tiered beds off our patio. Spring color has such an invigorating effect after winter.
It was more hassle, but I went ahead and amended the sandy orchard soil where I planted the monet tulips. Without the composted manure/top soil mixture, the sandy soil would not support these tulips for long, especially since most tulips are biennials at best in our garden.
With all the bulbs and corms put to bed, I went to work taking out all the remaining root crops: onions, beets and carrots. We had a large number of each, enough to add to our stores for the coming winter. I also picked four big leeks since I plan to reprise my leek based chicken pot pies. Over the next week I’ll have to pull the remainder of the leeks and make something with them. The last butternut squash came in as well.
With the exception of putting the bees up for the winter the only remaining necessary garden chore will be mulching once the ground freezes. I have oak leaves and still hold out hope that I can find actual bales of straw somewhere.