Just ‘fore Winter, I’m as Busy as Can Be

November 28 – More and more of our yard has now put on it’s winter garb, which I suppose is appropriate as it is almost December. Over the last couple of weeks, I have finished up a similar number of end-of-fall tasks. Some examples:Nov 28 – More and more of our yard has now put on it’s winter garb, which I suppose is appropriate as it is almost December. Over the last couple of weeks, I have finished up a similar number of end-of-fall tasks. Some examples:

[ Calico Limas ]

1) We had a long row of calico lima bean plants growing on our east fence, and most have gone into the freezer. Pickable pods have been fading away, so the lima bean plants have been plucked up and the vines torn down.

These vines start up the vertical strands of the fence, encircling them as they grow, and so I had to unwind them all, one by one. Quite a time-consuming task. Now there is nothing growing in our garden except grass and weeds.

[ Canned pears ]

2) Our pear tree in our north pasture produced lots of pears this year, and dropped quite a few of them as they started to ripen. Chris went out several times a week and gathered all the fallen ones that weren’t rotten, and then peeled, sliced, and cooked them. Someone will be eating a lot of pears!

3) Pulled up the last tomato plants and picked three scrawny tomatoes from it, as well as pulling up the cucumber vines and dragging them off to be disposed of.

[ Chopped-off peony stalks ]

4) In our front yard we have six peony bushes, and as they were looking very shabby with old age, I went out with hand clippers and cut them all down and carted away the stems and old leaves. Now just a quick swipe over the area with a hand mower will make things look a lot neater.

5) A great many black walnuts ended up on the lawn under their tree. Before we could do the last mowings of the year, we had to rake them all up and dispose of them in some way. In our barn we have a lot of buckets of them we gathered some time ago, and I see that they are turning black and white (white with mold and black with old age). The room has a typical black walnut odor. I felt it would be best to take the moldy nuts out and leave them for the squirrels, and gather the fresher ones and save them for a while until the green husks can be removed!

[ Mandevilla ]

6) Our son-in-law’s mother brought over a mandevilla plant last month. She had it blooming on their front porch for months, but now that winter is approaching she didn’t feel up to taking it indoors and babying it, so asked if I would like it.

I accepted the offer, of course, so added more soil and removed surplus vines and leaves. It will share space in front of our big front window along with all my other smaller house plants that have been brought in to avoid freezing.

[ Unsliced / sliced ]

7) While walking across our side yard I came across a puffball, and picked it and took it up to the house. Chris cooked it for supper and I had some on buttered bread. However, I find that I can’t eat a lot of puffball and threw out what I had to leave behind. I like mushrooms and can’t figure out what it is about puffballs that does this.

Yes, the just-before-winter chores are always there to fill up our days! – DALE