Sunday, November 9, 2008

More winterizing.

Saturday 10th November

Rising at 8-00am to a cool but clear and sunny morning.
Temperatures keep getting very low at times so I want to get a few things bedded down for the winter.

But first..........................

Breakfasting of the egg and toast variety accompanied by..............

.....The Herald Cryptic Crossword.
Following a rather blustery evening............

.......the leaves are here in great numbers and it takes...................

......a whole lot of these to make...............

....one of these. To deal with the remainder on the paths and driveway.................

....I bring in the high tech assistant.
I never rake up the mass of leaves on the grass. They are left in place to encourage insects which in turn make food for the birds during the hard winter months. Notice I said "grass" and not "lawn". I don't have a lawn I have large grass covered tracts.
The saplings in the containers then get a good mulching with straw.

I don't want the containers to freeze solid so I'm hoping that this thick covering will do the trick.
The Winter Onions are doing great.

Even the newly sown bulbs................

....are all through.
But here's something that shouldn't be...................

....my supposedly "hibernating" Garlic. It seems that every clove I planted has sprung up.
What will happen to it when temperatures plummet is anyone's guess so I may have to plant some more.
My Swiss Chard.....

...looks great. And tastes great too.
The Kohlrabi is a new vegetable to our house....

...and I have 3 good sized ones to try. I choose one to go into tonight's dinner.......

....and have a sample bite of the raw veg. It's delicious.
Then it's weeding time and I clear the front garden beds, chop back the dead or dying plants and then cover with Cyprus Mulch.

Things look a little tidier now.
Some cuttings are taken..................

...and placed on the kitchen windowsill to root.
One of the geraniums and the chives are brought inside too.
Enough!!
This is where the Kohlrabi ended up..............................

.......in a Chicken and Vegetable bake.