November Gardening

Extreme weather is starting to be the no around here! What a blustery rainy way to finish the year. It is good to see snow in the mountains and the rivers rushing through the woods. This is a time to remember, with thankfulness, the bounty of the summer and share a meal, drink or fireplace with friends.

Vegetable Garden

Still harvesting kale, leeks, beets, parsnips, carrots and lots of broccoli from the garden. I tucked some horticultural fleece around the lettuce and spinach. Even a little frost hasn’t really hurt them. Purple Brussels sprouts are very cool looking.

The rest of the garden has been cleaned up and dead plants have been added to the compost pile. A weed through of all the beds and compost on the top will help to winterize the beds. You mainly want to keep the soil working and not washing away. The layer of compost protects the soil.

Ornamental Beds

Now is the time to clear away broken branches, dead leaves, and plants that have crashed into dormancy. The most recent consensus is that most gardeners leave the seed heads in the beds until the spring. In the early spring they will need to be cut back, disposed of and mulch added to the beds. I’m a little compulsive about the beds and have a tenancy to clean up and add compost now. I like to be sure that weeds aren’t hiding under the leaves and broken stalks. Weeds are one thing that will continue to grow and spread in the winter. I always leave the grasses up for the birds and enjoy the color of the dry stalks against the low winter sun. They are simply amazing.

Planning, Planning, Planning

Take some time to look back through your notes, take a walk in the garden and compare what your garden looks like now and what you want it to look like. This is a great time to say what you loved about the garden and what you didn’t.

My neighbor is taking out trees now. She has decided that they were getting too big for the space and shading out some more desirable things. Garden editing is just one of the fun things about gardening. A chance to change things and move things now is great and a chance to plan for the changes next spring is also important.

I keep a garden journal to keep track of when and where I planted things. I make notes about varieties, when I got them, and how they are doing. Yes there are some entries that say ‘died’, ‘died again’ and ‘maybe the third time is a charm’. After 3 times I usually move on and don’t try again.

Some of the planning for next year for me consists of Northwest Flower and Garden Show in February 2016, working on a bog garden/children’s garden at my place, and expanding the fruits in the Vegetable Garden.