This Week In The Garden: November 2, 2024

A very cold wasp found in a very cold apple

The last of the holdover warmth of summer that lingered late into October is now gone and true fall weather has fully arrived.  The leaves have their lovely autumn color and are becoming more sparse along the tree branches.  

I was looking through photos of the garden from last November and it really is incredible the amount of change and growth.  The green giants are filling out and getting taller.  The privet hedges are (almost) all planted and growing well (amazing fall color on these Vicary Golden Privet).  It's fun to see spindly little trees you've planted finally hit their stride and start to bulk out after rooting in and getting adjusted to their new home.

There's a trio of Hoopsii Blue Spruce in a corner of the front yard that have a new addition in their area - a quaking aspen that I relocated from a hill it had been growing on.  It wasn't really thriving in that spot so I found it a better home (there are still five other aspens on the hill that are doing well, so the overall effect won't be lost).  I really love the combination of blue spruce and quaking aspen.

I've decided to use a roughly 10' x 25' space between the orchard and mini-barn as the new garden bed for corn, pumpkins, and other sprawlers like melons.  The natural soil in this area is quite 'difficult' (compacted, low in organic matter, etc.), so I've decided to create a raised bed with all sorts of excess material from around the place - sod/soil/bark from re-establishing tree rings, sod/soil from cutting out new garden beds, leaves, grass clippings, compost.  This will free up a section of the central cottage garden that I used this season for corn and pumpkins and intend to use as a mixed bed.

Weedy Pete