Pretty Much Ready for Winter

With little time to spare, we completed the raised bed construction project, moved four yards of dirt to fill them, and covered the soil with a shredded leaf mulch. 

This was no mean feat. I figured we were covering a lot of miles in that back yard, marchin' hup and down the hill with a heavy wheel-barrow. So I turned on my Garmin. It turned out that speaking just for myself, and not counting Kiki's at least equal effort, I covered 2.21 miles. We'd started the day with our yearly pilgrimage to the top of Wedge Hill in William O'Brien State Park where I'd proposed that we get married on MEA weekend seven years ago. Best decision ever. Also worth mentioning, as I mowed the back yard to mulch leaves this afternoon, is that little job involves 1.28 miles of hiking. Not a big deal, necessarily, as I ran six miles this morning, but not negligible, either.

An action shot of Kiki whipping her hair while shoveling dirt

We had our first really solid, hard frost last night. Temperature down to 28 degrees. It was a good thing that we'd collected every bit of vegetable left in the yard. The tomatoes produced to the bitter end. There has been a marked diminishing in the taste. They're not like the sweet, soft tomatoes of August. They ended up being more like the kind of cold dark pink crunchy slap you find on a Subway sandwich. But still - no worse that a store-bought tomato. We took in all of the remaining green ones as well, which added up to about a grocery bag full. Not too shabby for a $3.99 packet of seed purchased last winter. Then we composted the remains.

Speaking of compost, I'm worried. I think we may have made some mistakes. I think we should have had a bigger pile. I've now read that your pile should be at least 4x4x4. Ours, completely filled, is 2x4x4. So I'm concerned that it's not going to create the heat you need to get really good compost. I'm concerned about the mix of brown and green. I wonder how much will break down through the cold months. What will happen to the composted corn stalks, giant sunflowers, and leaves that we put in the really deep bottoms of the two raised beds on the really steep bit of Steepmeadow? Will the dirt settle a lot, or will there be partially decomposed things lurking under there for years to come? 

Time will tell.  

Red Siberian garlic is in, fortified with leaf mulch and coffee grounds to add a little acid (not the fun kind) to the soil. We shall see. 

The only finishing touch left - and I ordered these today - is to install the solar LED lights on the top of some of the posts. This should provide a lovely illumination when the snow starts to fly, and attract night pollinators in the summer. 

Weirdly (because I hate the cold), I had a small thrill of excitement about the first snow coming. It should be less horrible than in other years, because I won't have to commute in it. This year, it will just involve watching it fall outside the window with a cup of something warm in my hand, not having to venture further than to shovel the driveway and the front walk.