November bounty! 
Speaking of green tomatoes, I now have 3 large flat trays with green tomatoes after ripping all plants out for the winterā¦ my goodness, my deck garden really produced this year! I have not bought a tomato since July, and probably will not any time soon. My husband has been spoiled with the tasty homegrown fruit! 
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That sounds amazing! Will basil thrive through the winter if itās inside? Wondering if I should try uprooting one of mine.
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@Lemonlee this is the first time Iāve brought a basil plant inside. We had 4 plants, two in the ground and two in pots. Froze the leaves and made pesto from the in-ground plants, left one potted plant outside for now (hasnāt been that cold here) and brought the other inside and put in a sunny, warm window. It probably wonāt thrive all year but we will see. I have bought smaller basil plants at Trader Joeās in late winter/early spring in the past, and been able to keep them mostly alive, enough to get basil for what I needed each week. So I decided Iād try bringing this larger plant inside and see how it goes.
I think it depends on your climate re: basil plant going from outside to inside. I had some luck keeping a tiny leafed basil plant from outside going in but not so much the typical larger leafed. I have had luck cutting stems from an outside plant and then just putting it in water in like a vase or mason jar - that will usually last a month+ and keeps growing (and even roots)!
LIke @4kids4us I recommend giving something a try but if fails, grab a plant from TJās or your grocery store produce department - they are more suited for indoors and sort of go indoors to indoors instead of outside to indoors.
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I have a TJās basil plant doing well on the kitchen windows. It has been more than a month, and the plant survived a big drought when kid who housesit for us forgot to water it. Like any indoor plant, it will need some feeding soon.
Got a truckload of organic certified mushroom compost today and spread it on my raised vegetable beds. Iāve never tried this product before but I will say Iām initially impressed with the āconditionā of the compost. It seems to have quite a variety of ingredients, is full of organic matter, has been pasteurized before use and steamed afterwards. Iāll till it in in the next couple of days and let it break down more over the winter. Iām looking forward to seeing how it performs in the beds next spring. I canāt believe I havenāt tried this stuff sooner.
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What type of place stocks this? Like a local nursery??
Itās from a mushroom farm. I went straight to the source.
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Lucky you @MarylandJOE, itās nice to get some mushroom compost.
Iām using my last compost bin, I desperate need more compost. Iām also out of bone meal, so I ordered some from Bed Bath and Beyond, I didnāt know they sell fertilizer until now.
But some of herbaceous peonies are confused, they are sending up buds.
Itās exciting to see emerging peony buds on some peonies that I just fertilized. Something to make me looking forward to next year.
My bamboo in the backyard has new growth on it all over the place, which I am stoked about. Sowed some Hungarian breadseed poppy seeds in a couple of raised beds in the backyard today. I bought 1 packet a year ago from Baker Creek Seeds and they grew like gang bustersā¦amazing flowers. I saved all of the seeds from late spring when they were done flowering.
The 2 chiltepin bushes are covered in fruit, but none of it is ripe yet. I think thatāll happen in another 2-3 weeks. Theyāre tiny but mighty little peppers!
The moringa trees are still flowering. I usually chop them back some time in February. Grape vines are starting to turn in for the winter.
Planted a couple of firesticks plants in the front yard. Hopefully, the resident gopher decides that he doesnāt like those. LOL.
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So I gave a donation to the Arbor Day Foundation weeks or months ago and they just shipped my 10 free trees and 2 hydrangeas āgiftā. Iām in Iowa and itās going to be high of 20 today and tomorrow.
All next week weāll have highs in the 40s. Any chance these will survive?
Iām sure theyāre dormant so they should be pretty hardy. If I remember from years ago these āgiftā trees arenāt very big. You could certainly temporarily plant them in pots and keep them in a cool place until you are ready to get them in the ground. You could even plant multiple ones together for a bit just to hold them over. Give them a bit of water but donāt let them think it is time to sprout and begin to grow. The reality is once you plant them theyāre going to be exposed to temperature extremes anyway.
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Starting to get the garden cleaned up so things will be easier in the spring and it just makes me feel better.
Put the mushroom soil on my raised beds the other day. Now Iām going to work on laying cardboard and covering it with mulch on the pathways in-between. I havenāt done this before so itās an experiment. Iām hoping it will cut down on weed issues and provide a nice clean surface for walking on. It looks ok at the moment. Iāll add more mulch in the spring to ensure a thick layer. I only had enough material for one pathway so far. I figure I can work on this over the coming weeks as I get more supplies.
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That is a nice garden.
Iāve used newsprint under mulch to make walkways between veggie beds in our previous house, and it cut down on weeds substantially.
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That mushroom compost sounds and looks great! I am expanding my flower garden beds (using āno digā methodācardboard topped with 4-6 inches of compost), and needed a lot, so I used up all of my own homemade compost and got 5 more yards delivered. But itās just ābasic compostāāunfortunately not certified anything! I asked what itās made of and they said grass and leaves. Should I be nervous it has bad stuff in it? Well, my fingers are crossed.
My area finally, finally had a light frost a few days ago. Normally it would happen by around October 20, so it was delightful to still have so many dahlias and morning glories and zinnias and phlox, etc blooming so late! I still see some nice scabiosa going strong. But I did feel the need to cut it all down (besides the scabiosa) to get my fall garden jobs done. Ready for March!!
I do that every year; because the paths are so well-trodden I end up having to redo it every year with new cardboard and wood chips, which is a bit of a bummer.
I guess no matter what, thereās gonna be garden work - either itāll be weeding or itāll be maintaining the stuff I use to avoid weeding.
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When you redo it, do you scoop out the old material or just add on top?
I imagine the old material might make a good addition to the garden beds.
I just add on top. We need it - we live on a pile of rocks, literally rocks, like if I lever out a rock with the crowbar, another one pushes to the surface. I could scrape off the good stuff that decomposes, but then Iād be back to zero on trying to make a walkable path to where we donāt break our ankles or just fall over.
But if you donāt have my issues, itās a great idea to shovel it up for the actual beds! Give it a couple years to break down, Iād think.
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Maybe baby them a bit if you plant them outside??? Especially the hydrangeas?
Our city just planted some trees in our boulevard this weekend and it was below freezing. Trees will probably be ok. But you could consider piling a good bit of leaf mulch around the base of the hygrangeas or even covering them for a couple of weeks to let them adjust to the cold.
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