a general spring to-do list, and to-get list, before the season gets going.
1) clean out and scrub up your pots, birdbaths, birdfeeders, and anything else that spent the winter grungy or neglected. if you are reusing pots from last season, wash them with a weak bleach solution, rinse well, and let dry in the sun, to prevent the spread of mold spores or bacteria to your new crops.
2) inspect all pots, lanterns, birdbaths, etc for cracks and chips that they might have sustained over the winter. toss them or reuse the ceramics for craft projects. broken glass and broken pottery have no place in the yard with bare feet running in the summer. trust me.
3) clean up your tools. use steel wool and mineral oil to scrub off rust and lubricate all moving parts. don't have good tools? you'll need some if you want to get serious this year with your veggies. at minimum, i recommend a good hand trowel, a very sharp pair of scissors/shears, the best quality pruner you can afford for woody branches and larger stems, and sturdy and protective gardening gloves.
4) in addition, you might want to add to your shopping list: zinc plant tags that you can reuse year after year and a marker to write on them; soft velcro plant ties to stake floppy tomatoes and peas; and a good (and big) watering can if your hose doesn't reach all over your yard.
5) good quality, organic potting soil and good quality organic compost. add sand to this list if you do cacti/succulents. do not use garden soil in containers. EVER. it compacts in the pot and does not allow for good drainage.
6) organic fertilizer. you will need this later in the season as things start growing fast, especially if they are in pots, as nutrients tend to wash out quickly from potting soil in containers.
once you have all your tools and equipment clean and ready, your new fluffy dirt ready to go, and your baby plant seedlings purchased from the nursery or farmer's market, all you need is a nice warm sunny day to get everything laid out and in the ground (or in pots). and i'd recommend a hearty cocktail at the end of the day, also. ;)
Tuesday, April 2, 2013
choosing veggie friends
a big part of being successful gardener is choosing the right plants to grow in your climate, space, and ones to suit your skill levels. often beginner gardeners don't have the experience to know which plants do and do not work in their particular garden, so there are some tried-and-true plants that are fairly easy to grow, hardy, and most importantly for veggie growers....delicious.
COLD-WEATHER CROPS:
plant these now (late March to early April), and again in the fall (September up until first frost):
leafy greens like lettuce, kale, spinach, chard, cilantro, parsley, mesclun lettuces, arugula. sow these as seeds across your dirt, either in a pot or in your yard. choose 'cut-and-come-again' varieties; this means that the more you snip their leaves to eat, the more they produce. (specifically lettuces, spinach, and arugula.) in addition, i re-sow seeds around the existing plants once or twice more before the season is over so you have a continuous crop of baby leaves for salads and such. you might need to cover these at night if our weather dips below the 30s or so.
root veggies like beets, carrots, turnips, and the like. sow them now and pull them out to eat as babies (carrots) or let them mature and eat them before the weather gets hot and they turn nasty.
sow peas and beans in your garden now. they like to get a head start in cool weather before they start producing in the warmer months. cover them if we get a hard freeze or (god forbid) snow.
WARM WEATHER CROPS:
if you are starting seeds, start these now. otherwise, buy seedlings and plant these the first week of May (Derby day). NO EXCEPTIONS OR THE LOUISVILLE WEATHER GODS WILL SMITE YOUR BABY PLANTS.
cucumbers, melons, squashes, and other members of the curcubit family.
nightshade plants like tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants.
continue to sow cilantro around your existing plants and cut often to prevent bolting. same with chard, it will grow all summer with enough water and frequent harvesting. spinach and lettuce season can be stretched out with enough shade and water.
annual herbs, or perennial herbs that you want to get started in your yard for future seasons.
annual flowers, including edibles such as nasturtiums and marigolds.
RANDOM WISDOM:
you can never have enough basil. plant a lot. you can, however, have enough squash and zucchini. plant none and take advantage of your foolish neighbors who planted way too much.
COLD-WEATHER CROPS:
plant these now (late March to early April), and again in the fall (September up until first frost):
leafy greens like lettuce, kale, spinach, chard, cilantro, parsley, mesclun lettuces, arugula. sow these as seeds across your dirt, either in a pot or in your yard. choose 'cut-and-come-again' varieties; this means that the more you snip their leaves to eat, the more they produce. (specifically lettuces, spinach, and arugula.) in addition, i re-sow seeds around the existing plants once or twice more before the season is over so you have a continuous crop of baby leaves for salads and such. you might need to cover these at night if our weather dips below the 30s or so.
root veggies like beets, carrots, turnips, and the like. sow them now and pull them out to eat as babies (carrots) or let them mature and eat them before the weather gets hot and they turn nasty.
sow peas and beans in your garden now. they like to get a head start in cool weather before they start producing in the warmer months. cover them if we get a hard freeze or (god forbid) snow.
WARM WEATHER CROPS:
if you are starting seeds, start these now. otherwise, buy seedlings and plant these the first week of May (Derby day). NO EXCEPTIONS OR THE LOUISVILLE WEATHER GODS WILL SMITE YOUR BABY PLANTS.
cucumbers, melons, squashes, and other members of the curcubit family.
nightshade plants like tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants.
continue to sow cilantro around your existing plants and cut often to prevent bolting. same with chard, it will grow all summer with enough water and frequent harvesting. spinach and lettuce season can be stretched out with enough shade and water.
annual herbs, or perennial herbs that you want to get started in your yard for future seasons.
annual flowers, including edibles such as nasturtiums and marigolds.
RANDOM WISDOM:
you can never have enough basil. plant a lot. you can, however, have enough squash and zucchini. plant none and take advantage of your foolish neighbors who planted way too much.
planning a basic garden
this blog will go over the basics of planning a garden, whether you are brand new to gardening, have a very small space to use, or want to try veggies for the first time. this is a very short and simple blurb on a rather exhaustive subject; there are great books and articles written solely on planning a garden and choosing plants for it. this is meant as a good crash course to get you started. the best way to learn is to grow for yourself!
the first thing to decide is the space you have to work with. is it a corner of your landlord's yard? a sunny patio or deck? one large pot on your front step? no matter how small or how nontraditional, decide on a space, get some graph paper, and map it out to scale. THIS IS WHAT I DO, NO MATTER HOW SMALL. it really helps to get a visual sense of the space you have and what will fit in it.
okay, okay, moving on. the second and most important step is to decide what you actually want to grow. you, personally. not what was in peter rabbit's veggie patch. not what your grandma grows every year. not what the garden center has on the first rack you walk by.
a few good rules to think about:
1) grow what you actually like eating. twenty pounds of cauliflower are no good if you gag at the thought of eating one single floret.
2) grow what is cost-effective for you. fresh herbs and heirloom varieties are expensive, even in the summer months. zucchini is relatively cheap to buy, however. if you only have one pot to use, don't fill it up with something that is very inexpensive for you to purchase in a store or a farmer's market. ration your space and use it to the best you can.
3) grow what will actually work in the conditions you have. don't grow tomatoes if you're gardening in a shady, boggy corner of a yard. don't grow an almond tree if you have three windowsill pots to use. obvious, but it bears repeating. research what conditions the plants you like prefer, and give them those, or don't use those plants at all. happy plants are easier to care for and take less time to grow.
once you decide how much space is at your disposal, and what plants you want to grow and are able to grow, sit down with your graph paper and a pencil and figure out where you want to arrange the plants. use common sense; taller plants need to grow in the back of your space. plants that creep or vine can fill in holes or go up front. invasive plants like mint need to be contained in their own space. also keep in mind aesthetics; you can even google photos of what your choices will look like once they grow up, and place them in a way that you think looks good!
if you are planting cold weather crops as well as warmer, summer crops, do two plans; one for early in the year, like right now, and a second one to refer to later on in the season (mid-May) when the cold-weather plants are starting to look tired. that way you can have your warm weather plants picked out and ready to plug in to your garden plot.
for suggestions on some basic veggies and herbs that work in different conditions and climates, see my next blog entry. :)
now that you have your list of what plants you want, head to the garden center, nursery, or farmer's market and pick out some little baby plants to take home with you! keep in mind that little plants grow bigger very rapidly. take into account how big they will be in one month, and two months, and three, when you decide how many of each plant to get. don't fill a barrel with four tomato plants that in another month, will be busting out the sides of it. give your plants breathing room!
a word on seedlings vs seeds: if you are a brand-new gardener, seed starting can sometimes overcomplicate and discourage your efforts. it is easier and more fool-proof to start with healthy seedlings until you get a season or two under your belt and want to add a new gardening skill, like seed starting. i would definitely recommend starting with organic seedlings from a nursery with a great selection, as you can pick healthy plants and go straight home and plug them in your dirt, without having to have any special equipment like grow-lights or anything else like that.
happy shopping!
the first thing to decide is the space you have to work with. is it a corner of your landlord's yard? a sunny patio or deck? one large pot on your front step? no matter how small or how nontraditional, decide on a space, get some graph paper, and map it out to scale. THIS IS WHAT I DO, NO MATTER HOW SMALL. it really helps to get a visual sense of the space you have and what will fit in it.
okay, okay, moving on. the second and most important step is to decide what you actually want to grow. you, personally. not what was in peter rabbit's veggie patch. not what your grandma grows every year. not what the garden center has on the first rack you walk by.
a few good rules to think about:
1) grow what you actually like eating. twenty pounds of cauliflower are no good if you gag at the thought of eating one single floret.
2) grow what is cost-effective for you. fresh herbs and heirloom varieties are expensive, even in the summer months. zucchini is relatively cheap to buy, however. if you only have one pot to use, don't fill it up with something that is very inexpensive for you to purchase in a store or a farmer's market. ration your space and use it to the best you can.
3) grow what will actually work in the conditions you have. don't grow tomatoes if you're gardening in a shady, boggy corner of a yard. don't grow an almond tree if you have three windowsill pots to use. obvious, but it bears repeating. research what conditions the plants you like prefer, and give them those, or don't use those plants at all. happy plants are easier to care for and take less time to grow.
once you decide how much space is at your disposal, and what plants you want to grow and are able to grow, sit down with your graph paper and a pencil and figure out where you want to arrange the plants. use common sense; taller plants need to grow in the back of your space. plants that creep or vine can fill in holes or go up front. invasive plants like mint need to be contained in their own space. also keep in mind aesthetics; you can even google photos of what your choices will look like once they grow up, and place them in a way that you think looks good!
if you are planting cold weather crops as well as warmer, summer crops, do two plans; one for early in the year, like right now, and a second one to refer to later on in the season (mid-May) when the cold-weather plants are starting to look tired. that way you can have your warm weather plants picked out and ready to plug in to your garden plot.
for suggestions on some basic veggies and herbs that work in different conditions and climates, see my next blog entry. :)
now that you have your list of what plants you want, head to the garden center, nursery, or farmer's market and pick out some little baby plants to take home with you! keep in mind that little plants grow bigger very rapidly. take into account how big they will be in one month, and two months, and three, when you decide how many of each plant to get. don't fill a barrel with four tomato plants that in another month, will be busting out the sides of it. give your plants breathing room!
a word on seedlings vs seeds: if you are a brand-new gardener, seed starting can sometimes overcomplicate and discourage your efforts. it is easier and more fool-proof to start with healthy seedlings until you get a season or two under your belt and want to add a new gardening skill, like seed starting. i would definitely recommend starting with organic seedlings from a nursery with a great selection, as you can pick healthy plants and go straight home and plug them in your dirt, without having to have any special equipment like grow-lights or anything else like that.
happy shopping!
Sunday, January 13, 2013
beginnings.
so, after spending this previous summer in yosemite valley, california, i am back in kentucky for another year and looking forward to the impending gardening season. i have the gardening bug bad this year, as i did not get to grow a single leaf last summer!! i know it's just january right now, but before you know it, it will be time to start sprouting seeds and getting the garden planned out.
i decided, to celebrate being back home in the rainy and fertile kentucky weather, i am going to plant my very first medicinal herb garden this year. i have dabbled in years past with growing a few medicinal herbs here and there, but with my combined interest in gardening and my job in the supplement and vitamin department at whole foods, it seems very timely indeed to begin the journey of growing my own medicinal herbs to use inside and outside of my body.
so i am devoting an entire area of the garden specifically to these wonderful and potent plants. the first step to successful anything, i believe, is lot's of research. i already have a pretty good idea of the plants i want to grow, so i am spending some time today learning more about their specific germinating and growing conditions and needs.
here is my (rather extensive and probably totally ridiculous) list of my "starter" medicinal herb garden:
chamomile (have grown it before)
arnica
mugwort (i have wild-harvested it before, but not grown it in my garden)
astragalus
lemongrass (have grown it before)
ginseng (have grown it before)
witch hazel
st. johns wort
fenugreek
mullein
valerian
yarrow
echinacea (have grown it before)
holy basil
calendula
lemon balm (have grown it before)
passionflower
white sage (grown regular sage, harvested white sage in the desert, but never grown white sage in my yard)
how did i choose? some are my favorite herbs, some are what i feel to be basic "medicine kit" herbs, some have sentimental value to me, some i regularly purchase to take internally. so, this is the large and comprehensive list. i have already ordered several of these in seed packets from mountain rose herbs online, which has an amazing and super-easy to use website.
i will be blogging more about germinating these seeds and caring for the little herb-babies once the seeds arrive. in the meantime, i might get into some plant lore and magical herb facts if i have the time!
it's going to be a marvelously fabulous summer, i can just feel it. :)
i decided, to celebrate being back home in the rainy and fertile kentucky weather, i am going to plant my very first medicinal herb garden this year. i have dabbled in years past with growing a few medicinal herbs here and there, but with my combined interest in gardening and my job in the supplement and vitamin department at whole foods, it seems very timely indeed to begin the journey of growing my own medicinal herbs to use inside and outside of my body.
so i am devoting an entire area of the garden specifically to these wonderful and potent plants. the first step to successful anything, i believe, is lot's of research. i already have a pretty good idea of the plants i want to grow, so i am spending some time today learning more about their specific germinating and growing conditions and needs.
here is my (rather extensive and probably totally ridiculous) list of my "starter" medicinal herb garden:
chamomile (have grown it before)
arnica
mugwort (i have wild-harvested it before, but not grown it in my garden)
astragalus
lemongrass (have grown it before)
ginseng (have grown it before)
witch hazel
st. johns wort
fenugreek
mullein
valerian
yarrow
echinacea (have grown it before)
holy basil
calendula
lemon balm (have grown it before)
passionflower
white sage (grown regular sage, harvested white sage in the desert, but never grown white sage in my yard)
how did i choose? some are my favorite herbs, some are what i feel to be basic "medicine kit" herbs, some have sentimental value to me, some i regularly purchase to take internally. so, this is the large and comprehensive list. i have already ordered several of these in seed packets from mountain rose herbs online, which has an amazing and super-easy to use website.
i will be blogging more about germinating these seeds and caring for the little herb-babies once the seeds arrive. in the meantime, i might get into some plant lore and magical herb facts if i have the time!
it's going to be a marvelously fabulous summer, i can just feel it. :)
Thursday, January 5, 2012
No Impact (Wo)Man
Imagine going an entire year without negatively affecting the planet in any way. No coffee, no cars or planes, no magazines, no new clothes or makeup, no bananas or mangos, not even any toilet paper. extreme? yes, but impactful. i think "no impact man" is a misleading title, because although he lives a year without any negative environmental impact, he imparts a huge social impact, if only by inspiring by a rather extreme example. if everyone in the united states could give up just one of the hundreds of things this man and his family gave up for a year, imagine how many trees we'd save. how much water we would keep from being polluted. how many habitats and micro-ecosystems would be preserved. how many tons of carbon would not be released into our ozone. and the list goes on and on and on.
watch his documentary, No Impact Man, on Netflix, or rent it. read his blog. and think about how much of an impact we could have if we did even 1/50th of what Colin Beaven did.
No Impact Man Blog
http://movies.netflix.com/Movie/No-Impact-Man-The-Documentary/70112474
watch his documentary, No Impact Man, on Netflix, or rent it. read his blog. and think about how much of an impact we could have if we did even 1/50th of what Colin Beaven did.
No Impact Man Blog
http://movies.netflix.com/Movie/No-Impact-Man-The-Documentary/70112474
Thursday, December 29, 2011
winter gardening and summer planning...
in a few days it will be january, and yet i'm still picking swiss chard, cilantro, and even have broccoli coming up in my yard. i am LOVING this mild winter so far.
to keep me occupied while my yard is quiet, i've been researching and reading, and have decided to incorporate my findings into my future blogs. hopefully over the next year or two, there will be a shift from gardening in a downtown backyard in louisville, kentucky, to gardening on a spanish-speaking organic host farm in argentina, to gardening in my very own (questionable quality) dirt outside my very own (round and adorable) yurt in some location yet to be chosen.
a great book i just finished is "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle", by Barbara Kingsolver. for anyone who is wondering why they should pursue a local, self-sufficient lifestyle and cuisine, this will convince you. for anyone who already understands the reasons why, this book will only back up your resolve. this book comes HIGHLY recommended by me.
that's all for now. i'm checking out root cellaring and cheap rural land on www.billyland.com.
sometimes it's nice to just hunker down in the wintertime and dream of summers elsewhere...
to keep me occupied while my yard is quiet, i've been researching and reading, and have decided to incorporate my findings into my future blogs. hopefully over the next year or two, there will be a shift from gardening in a downtown backyard in louisville, kentucky, to gardening on a spanish-speaking organic host farm in argentina, to gardening in my very own (questionable quality) dirt outside my very own (round and adorable) yurt in some location yet to be chosen.
a great book i just finished is "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle", by Barbara Kingsolver. for anyone who is wondering why they should pursue a local, self-sufficient lifestyle and cuisine, this will convince you. for anyone who already understands the reasons why, this book will only back up your resolve. this book comes HIGHLY recommended by me.
that's all for now. i'm checking out root cellaring and cheap rural land on www.billyland.com.
sometimes it's nice to just hunker down in the wintertime and dream of summers elsewhere...
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
november and still going...
well, as i am writing this, it is november 8, it's 74 degrees outside, breezy, and sunny. i picked 7 or 8 more Green Zebra heirloom tomatoes yesterday from my yard. the jalapeno peppers are ripening like crazy.
is this louisville or orlando?!
but i love it, because the gardening season this year has been extended by almost a month past our expected frost date. (generally, we get a frost here the first or second week in october.) and, even though my mom and dad out in shelby county have had several frosts, i haven't had really even one down here in germantown. my summer flowers actually are reblooming and looking better than they did in july, thanks to the cool night temperatures and warm sunny days we are having lately! nonetheless, you know that one morning we will all wake up to frozen puddles of water, white frost on our cars, and mushy black dead plants all over the yard. so, be prepared. here is my general, brief list of what needs to be happening in the yard in the next week or so, so that when the unseasonally warm weather leaves us behind, you won't have a lot of chores to do outside in the freezing cold damp november weather.
all the terra cotta, ceramic, or stone pots outside need to be emptied of dirt and turned upside down. this is to prevent any moisture from getting into microscopic cracks in the pots, then freezing and thawing. the expansion then contraction will cause your pots to break into pieces all of a sudden. this happens to me every single winter...it seems there's always one small pot tucked away into a corner that i forget about until it cracks into a million pieces. same goes for your birdbaths, fountains, whatever-- anything that holds water.
if you have something you want to keep planted up all winter (like the fir trees i keep on my front porch, for example) you can either a) use a pot made out of wood, metal, or plastic. b) put the plant in a plastic pot sitting inside the pot you want to use. this way, the dirt that holds freezing and thawing water is not directly against the porous walls of the ceramic or clay pot. also, do not let it sit directly on the dirt on the ground. use it on a patio or porch, or sit it on pot risers or a concrete block.
another thing i do now is cut back all the spent summer foliage. anything that will not live through the winter or is looking crappy, dropping leaves, etc (this does not include trees or perennial bushes. don't chop those off!) i go ahead and cut back or pull up. this makes my yard look neater and eliminates a lot of the slimy black leaves that will be all over your plants after the first hard frost. you can leave big grasses and bushes the way they are to add some winter interest to your yard. dig up any cannas, banana plants, elephant ears...any tropical bulbs will need to be stored somewhere cool and dry for their winter dormancy until you plant them back outside in may.
anything in pots that you are not bringing inside (like some of my herbs, giant hanging ferns, baskets of petunias and other annuals) all get dumped out and the pots need to be stored. i dump the dirt, plant, and all, right over my raised bed to insulate the soil until spring. (don't do this if the plant in the pot had any kind of fungus or disease.) stack the empty pots neatly outside, or hose them down and bring them inside if you have the closet space or a garage to keep them in.
be really vigilant right now about harvesting every veggie you can. a hard frost can hit at any time right now, and you want to save as many tomatoes, peppers, eggplants etc, as you can. chard, spinach, lettuce can actually survive a light frost for a few weeks, so you don't have to worry as much about getting all of that kind of produce inside and on your plate as soon as possible. you can pick unripe tomatoes and let them ripen on a windowsill or make fried green tomatoes with them :) i watch the weather forecast and temperatures VERY closely this time of year.
also, if you have cute candleholders, votives, lanterns, etc-anything with glass- outside, don't forget to bring those inside as well. they will fill up with rainwater and when it freezes, it will break the glass just like your pots and birdbaths. i bring in all my hanging glass candleholders, run them through the dishwasher, and hang them over my bathtub for winter candlelit baths. it's better than trying to find a spot to store them in my tiny house!
good luck closing down the season. it's sad to see summertime leaving, but its also important to have downtime to let your soil rest and get some good gardening magazines to do some planning for next spring! it's a hard lesson for me to learn, but my garden needs rest and so do i. another blog coming soon! enjoy the pretty weather today :)
my sunflower mural i painted for myself, it will keep me cheery this winter :)
i wasn't kidding when i said i was still getting a lot of tomatoes and peppers out of my garden...
this is a pineapple sage plant, i planted it in May, it was in a 2" plastic nursery pot. now it is huge with these beautiful red flowers all over it, and the bees LOVE it. i'd highly recommend getting one of these every summer! it cost $1.89 for one 2" black plastic square pot. it is an herb.
some swiss chard, looking delicious and ready to be sauteed with some garlic and eaten. yummm.
is this louisville or orlando?!
but i love it, because the gardening season this year has been extended by almost a month past our expected frost date. (generally, we get a frost here the first or second week in october.) and, even though my mom and dad out in shelby county have had several frosts, i haven't had really even one down here in germantown. my summer flowers actually are reblooming and looking better than they did in july, thanks to the cool night temperatures and warm sunny days we are having lately! nonetheless, you know that one morning we will all wake up to frozen puddles of water, white frost on our cars, and mushy black dead plants all over the yard. so, be prepared. here is my general, brief list of what needs to be happening in the yard in the next week or so, so that when the unseasonally warm weather leaves us behind, you won't have a lot of chores to do outside in the freezing cold damp november weather.
all the terra cotta, ceramic, or stone pots outside need to be emptied of dirt and turned upside down. this is to prevent any moisture from getting into microscopic cracks in the pots, then freezing and thawing. the expansion then contraction will cause your pots to break into pieces all of a sudden. this happens to me every single winter...it seems there's always one small pot tucked away into a corner that i forget about until it cracks into a million pieces. same goes for your birdbaths, fountains, whatever-- anything that holds water.
if you have something you want to keep planted up all winter (like the fir trees i keep on my front porch, for example) you can either a) use a pot made out of wood, metal, or plastic. b) put the plant in a plastic pot sitting inside the pot you want to use. this way, the dirt that holds freezing and thawing water is not directly against the porous walls of the ceramic or clay pot. also, do not let it sit directly on the dirt on the ground. use it on a patio or porch, or sit it on pot risers or a concrete block.
another thing i do now is cut back all the spent summer foliage. anything that will not live through the winter or is looking crappy, dropping leaves, etc (this does not include trees or perennial bushes. don't chop those off!) i go ahead and cut back or pull up. this makes my yard look neater and eliminates a lot of the slimy black leaves that will be all over your plants after the first hard frost. you can leave big grasses and bushes the way they are to add some winter interest to your yard. dig up any cannas, banana plants, elephant ears...any tropical bulbs will need to be stored somewhere cool and dry for their winter dormancy until you plant them back outside in may.
anything in pots that you are not bringing inside (like some of my herbs, giant hanging ferns, baskets of petunias and other annuals) all get dumped out and the pots need to be stored. i dump the dirt, plant, and all, right over my raised bed to insulate the soil until spring. (don't do this if the plant in the pot had any kind of fungus or disease.) stack the empty pots neatly outside, or hose them down and bring them inside if you have the closet space or a garage to keep them in.
be really vigilant right now about harvesting every veggie you can. a hard frost can hit at any time right now, and you want to save as many tomatoes, peppers, eggplants etc, as you can. chard, spinach, lettuce can actually survive a light frost for a few weeks, so you don't have to worry as much about getting all of that kind of produce inside and on your plate as soon as possible. you can pick unripe tomatoes and let them ripen on a windowsill or make fried green tomatoes with them :) i watch the weather forecast and temperatures VERY closely this time of year.
also, if you have cute candleholders, votives, lanterns, etc-anything with glass- outside, don't forget to bring those inside as well. they will fill up with rainwater and when it freezes, it will break the glass just like your pots and birdbaths. i bring in all my hanging glass candleholders, run them through the dishwasher, and hang them over my bathtub for winter candlelit baths. it's better than trying to find a spot to store them in my tiny house!
good luck closing down the season. it's sad to see summertime leaving, but its also important to have downtime to let your soil rest and get some good gardening magazines to do some planning for next spring! it's a hard lesson for me to learn, but my garden needs rest and so do i. another blog coming soon! enjoy the pretty weather today :)
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