A ZILLION JOBS TO DO

Someone asked me the other day if my gardening had slowed down now that winter was approaching. In fact, I would say it has ramped up considerably. There are hundreds of things to do. A delivery of trees from Tree Folks last week gave me an extra job in which I enlisted David's help. Tree Folks took a virtual look at my lot last year and decided I should plant these trees, part of the over 4500 trees they give out every year to Austin residents. Among them two oak trees a native persimmon and two flame leaf sumac.

There are few places on our lot where you don't hit ledge stone so we were pleasantly surprised to find a couple of spots where it was just small, easily removable rocks. These trees have to learn to live in what is here so no amendment, just a layer of compost over the top, a good soaking and some cedar mulch around the tree.
We have done very little work on the trees on most of our lot. There are so many horrible cedars and I have just been content to let them stay. But now we are starting to trim some of them up and remove the ugly ones and we are finding a number of persimmons growing in among the cedars.

Several weeks ago I bought several six packs of hardy annuals and potted them on into 4" pots awaiting the cooler weather. I do this every year.

It gives them a head start when planted in the ground or in pots. These hardy annuals add color to the winter garden and the bonus of the delightful fragrance of stocks, alyssum and petunias just outside the door.

I was also fortunate to be the recipient of some of the staging plants, left by Gardeners' Supply, when they were here filming their new pots for next year's catalogue.

I used some of these plants to change out the window box on the potting shed. I left the Mexican feather grass from the summer planting removing all the soil around them replenishing with fresh compost. I have had good success with ornamental cabbage in past years so I purchased 3, 4" pots and potted on into quart containers before they finally took their place in the window box.

Alyssum self sows in the garden and on winter days they are a magnet for the bees.

As often as not it will seed in the pathways and vegetable beds and there it stays.

I really wish summer would be over. It tries to leave for a day and then we are back in summer again. My problem is the need to get summer vegetables out of the ground so I can tidy up the beds for winter, whether or not they are planted with winter legs.
Despite the fact that many were still going strong I picked all the remaining peppers and butternut squash.

It's hard to believe that the butternut squash grew to this size in less than 2 months. When I added compost to the flower bed in the sunken garden a seed sprouted and produced these. It was trying to takeover the garden.

The peppers were sautéed and frozen in batches. The butternut squash still ripening in the kitchen.
It's good to see the beds empty again although I planted garlic in one of them and peas in another. For now I am spending the days trying to tidy up before we get the next frost.