spiritdancer

Oh, good grief. Long post gone poof. Phhfffbbbtt.

Well, let's see if I can remember what all I covered.

Yes, we had a very hot, very dry summer. No rain to speak of from early May until the end of August. Temps were in the mid to upper 90s most of that time, with a long stretch of near record temps over 100F. I restricted my watering efforts to the raised beds and raspberry and blueberry bushes, and skipped watering the lawn. Despite that, the water bill for June & July was 50% higher than usual. Makes me glad I skipped watering the grass.

First frost/freeze was Saturday night (22 Sept). Lows hit around 29F. And it frosted again last night (23 Sept), hitting a low of 34F or so. The frost covers/blankets/sheets did the job for the most part. I covered the raised beds (tomatoes, basil, watermelon, and peppers), and have seen only a few frost-damaged tips. Well, other than half of the watermelon vine that was wandering out into the yard and didn't get covered. The part that still has a growing melon is fine, though.

I didn't try to cover the chives, chard, kale, red-veined sorrel, or cabbages - they can all handle cold temperatures pretty well. The pumpkin vines got to fare for themselves, as they were winding down already. Looks like we'll have 6 or 7 pumpkins. Not bad for compost bin volunteers.

I covered the raspberry bushes with a frost blanket, but it blew off sometime in the morning before I got out on Sunday. The plants seem to be fine, so I expect to continue getting berries for a while yet. Being up against the west side of the house (next to the cement foundation wall) has its benefits. Either late this fall or, more likely, early next spring I need to rework the supports for the raspberries. Tying them up to metal fence-posts isn't going to cut it, with the way they are growing. I've got some ideas, and material from Freecycle to make supports, I just need to get it put together.

Also for next year, I need to figure out a way to protect the blueberry bushes from the d**n Japanese Beetles. They showed up early this year - late May to early June - and pretty much stripped the leaves off the plants. They have recovered somewhat, but it's hard to keep them growing when they get hit this hard every year. I think I'll see about some sort of screen netting next year, putting it up after the plants have bloomed and (hopefully) before the beetles arrive. Actually, I should probably see if I can cover the raspberries, as well, although they didn't get as much damage as the blueberries. I'll pass on strawberry plants next year, as the birds and beetles stripped any fruit before we got to it, and the Japanese Beetles really like them.

I'm giving serious consideration to planting some fruit trees next spring, and I've talked to two different apple orchards about getting trees when they order (both are fine with that). I'm thinking about an early to mid-season variety - probably Wealthy and/or Haralson, as I like both of those varieties, and they don't usually show up at the grocery store. I also like the idea of a late-season variety - Golden Grimes or Mutsu - to extend the apple season a bit. And there will probably be a Dolgo crabapple, both for pollination of the apples and for eating (they have large fruit that David really likes). I'm also debating about sour cherries and/or plum trees, as both fruits are popular with our family.

And I suppose I really should overseed the lawn this fall, as otherwise the weeds are going to take over. The heat and drought did a real number on the grass, and it needs some help. I've mowed a total of three times this year, and two of those were only parts of the lawn. If I can get the budget sorted out to allow it, I should get the seeding done ASAP, then get a fall weed-and-feed on the lawn in late October/early November. Then again, if I get in more small fruits and fruit trees, then there is that much less I will have to mow later. Hmmmmm.

So, what is on your yard and garden list this year?