November Garden Ramblings

I had this post pretty much ready to go and then came the rat escapade (cat brought it into my office so office was not usable until said rat was dealt with) followed by the terrible flooding, the panic buying that ensued across parts of our lovely province, and that made my brain go veering off in a whole new direction. Different tangent. 

To see where it veered to, check out the post here self sufficient gardening. There us a link at the bottom of that post with some really, really good information on how to stock your pantry with 3 months worth of staples. For me, those supplies would last much longer than that. Hope you check it out, is a really great write up.

Anyways, all that happened and so here we are, more than half way through November before you get to hear this month's ramblings.  

Thankful for today, a sunny, lovely day. Hoping you all came through the flood relatively unscathed! We had some water pooling by the back gate but that disappeared pretty quick. They say another atmospheric river is coming though, so stay ready! 

While it is absolutely lovely outdoors with all the falling leaves, the red, yellow, and orange hues, I have most definitely lost my gardening mojo due to the weather this fall. So. Much. Rain. 

All the rain has me wanting to hibernate indoors, putter at cleaning closets, washing walls, changing to winter bedding, painting walls, ... Anything seems preferable to heading outdoors to finish off the last of the yardwork. 

So, I have decided to not stress about it and am instead going to wait for renewed energy along with some nice, sunny, dry weather in the new year to deal with the rest of the fall chores. It will be fine, they are all things that can wait till I find my mojo again.   

If you have not lost your gardening mojo, yay! So happy! Here are some things you might want to be doing this month 

Weeding. I kid you not! Try to get rid of those wee little seedlings that popped up everywhere after the rains so that you have less to worry about next spring. Weeding is almost a year round thing here on the island as the Hairy Bittercress will be out and about in February already. 

I have been on top of the weeds more this year than any other... and yep, with the rains came a whole new swack of baby seedlings. So frustrating! Weeds really are the never ending story. 

The leaves can be raked into piles, tossed in the compost, or shredded and used as mulch for your dahlias, garlic, or winter veggies. I am going to leave mine where they lie, littering my perennial beds, offering places of refuge for insects and wee critters. 

Mowing the lawn... hope you got yours done when the weather was dry. We did not, the really long and messy looking lawn now has to wait for a dry spell sometime in winter.

This was green grass before we hired the lawn company.... I am so sad. 

Oh, here's an interesting bit of information about lawns. If you were following this summer, you know that we hired a company (Weedman) to fertilise our front lawn and help to safely get rid of the chicory in the side yard. I really do love chicory with those pretty blue flowers... just not in the lawn. Unfortunately, when you mow over it, it turns into really hard, wooden, nail  like spikes that shred the dogs paws. 

The iron based spray that these guys is use is apparently used on golf courses, etc... is good for the lawn (usually), makes it stronger and better, and gets rid of the weeds. So, sounded like a win-win. Our lawn was less than two years old this summer but had a few dead spots from our female dog so really thought the feeding would help it be great.   

Sadly, this was a really bad idea during a drought and heat-dome summer, when you are unable to irrigate. We went from a green lawn with a few brown patches to a brown lawn with a few green patches... and guess what is coming up where the grass died? Yep, weeds, lots and lots of little weeds. Sigh. Cost us about $500 to get rid of some chicory (yes, they did make that happen) but kill the lawn and create a big weedy problem. Moral of this story? Only hire a lawn company if you can irrigate your lawn all summer.    

How to Make a Live Wreath - Ella Claire & Co. (ellaclaireinspired.com)

It is a bit early for me to get excited about Christmas decorating. To be truthful, I am really not a huge Christmas person, tend to keep it pretty simple and decorate around the 20th, taking it all down on the 26th. 

However, I am busy gathering goods to make all sorts of wreaths. Not the traditional yuletide kind but rather ones that can be out all winter without looking out of season, plus some herbal ones for the kitchen and gift giving. If you missed it earlier, Here are some of the wreath making links that I really like.

I have, so far, gathered my own grapevines for the wreath base and started gathering goods from throughout the yard. Late season rose buds, rose hips, sedums, branches of all sorts, even making a wreath out of arbutus. Playing around to see what I can come up with. Anything is better than weeding right now ; ) 

The Christmas cacti are full of buds, just about ready to start blooming. The leaves are red instead of green as it is cool in the greenhouse, I have the temp set at 5°C. Those green leaves are baby orchid cacti. They make the most amazing house plants, make huge pink flower blossoms. 

Here is a link to what other people are doing in the garden this month (that I am completely going to ignore and do later on in the year). Allotment Jobs for November - BBC Gardeners' World Magazine (gardenersworld.com)

Want to watch a fun short video from a flower garden in November with how-to's and what-to's? Check out this garden clean up information here... The flower farm in November - YouTube

All I have growing in the winter garden this year is Brussels sprouts (because yum!) and carrots for us and the pups, some multiplier onions in the hoophouse, broccoli and kalettes for spring harvesting. That is about it. Will toss in some lettuce seeds this month or next month for early spring eating. 

That is it, that is all I have this week.. because I am tired, lol. Do what you can. If you feel energetic and happy, plant and grow! If you, like me, are tired... take a break from it all and do stuff you feel like doing. Is never too late to take it back up again. In fact, this time of year is a great time to take a break. Besides, growing less sometimes is fine.. just not too much less with all these climate changes going on. Make sure you are okay for food, just in case

Journal what you grew that you loved, hated, want to grow more of or less of. Note down what you are low on so that you can grow more of it next year. If you did not get enough tomatoes to make sauce, or cucumbers to make pickles, or squash for your pantry this year, jot down a few notes in your journal for next year. Write it down as you will forget these things over the winter time, a lot happens to take up brain space between now and spring.  

That is about it, all I can think of at the moment. Hope you all are doing great. Stay safe during this next weather front. Take time to breath. Feel free to visit me in the greenhouse at any time if you want to get away from it all and just chat about anything and nothing at all. Always here and door is always open.

 

 Happy gardening ,,, or not, if you'd rather take a break ; ) 

Tanja