oops, i turned off my cell phone service!

And getting my own photos to this blog was accomplished via smart phone and email. So I'm going to have to figure out how to sideload them from the phone, or figure out where the chip thingy is hidden and plug it into the computer to be able to illustrate this blog.

It's well and truly fall here. I'll share a picture of my sister's garden she sent me, with the Solomon's Seal turning yellow. My pine is dropping needles, which I'll use to mulch the new bed, along with some homemade bark mulch.

I'm done mowing, I believe. And I'm organizing seeds and thoughts for the spring already. I have pea trellises to make of limbs I've taken off trees, wire bought to make fence anchors, and many other winter tasks, so in a sense I'll be gardening all year long. I also want to do a week-by-week garden diary this next year, which will help me improve in 2020.

Have a fine Samhain and Day of the Dead.

perennial bed cleared and planted

Ridiculously, I did not take a before picture. Before was five unwanted bushes and trees, piles of weeds, ivy, and a mess. After four of the stumps were hauled off, I still had three days of pulling weeds, and the best I can give you is some of what I pulled up after the stumps were gone. The first is english ivy, a section of root longer than I am tall, with my reliable hand adz for size comparison.

There's also this old pic of weediness in another bed to give you some idea--though this perennial bed was much worse: 

And I spread a bag of peat and one of cow manure, worked them in, and planted gifts from sisters and plants I'd bought. I was able to save two tiny things from the garden this once was (a woman who lived here 5+ years ago was a good gardener, and I'm sure this was once a great bed, but when I moved in, the brick border was invisible under weeds and it was a mess.

So as of 10:30 this morning, this is what I have. I'm pleased. And freakin' sore!