Best Laid Plans

Today is scarf making day - I'll let you know the out come.

These are pictures of scarves past....Shannon and Tayler are the models. Pictures are taken by Danita Rogers - she's fab!

Garlic Prep and Moons

Well I fully intended to prepare my garlic bed last weekend and that's about how far I got. Folklore says you should plant crops at the full moon. In my area, garlic should be planted in October or November. This year the October full moon will be the Harvest Moon because it falls the closest to the fall equinox (this won't happen again until 2017), usually the Harvest moon is in September and October is the Hunters Moon.

Anyway, I think October 4th is to early to plant the garlic so I'm going to wait for the Hunters Moon on Nov 2nd. I fully intend to have my beds prepared by then. I am thinking of putting an informal one on the hill outside my kitchen window just at the edge of the woods. This ground should be so fertile and with a little sand amended I think it might be perfect. I am going to use the bed next to this years garlic bed that belonged to the wererabbit (who did not bother the garden at all....giving him a few veggies of his own protected our spring bed.) Then I'm going to build a Salsa and Pickle garden in the front field. My daughter loved the salsa this year and it rekindled our idea to grow our own fixin's next year. The Princess also loves pickles and she'd like to put up her own pickles next year - so why not....anyway so that's two new beds, an informal bed for garlic and strawberries (ehhh that doesn't sound good together....) and that should be it for the fall tasks.....besides harvesting more sunflower seeds before the birds get them all. I am afraid to pick them to early because they aren't mature enough but the birds are sure getting after them....has anyone checked out the caterpillar coats, is there going to be a rough winter this year? Is that why the birds are so hungry or are they just pigs?

Hello

I have not fallen off the earth - just bogged down within it!

The gardening season at ThistleDew is at an end. I've been cleaning beds and preparing for next season (and my hamstrings are killing me). I've also been planning a new location for the garlic bed. They did ok in La Tres Belle but it was so wet (good thing they were in raised beds), I think I can do better higher on the hill. That means building a new bed, which means work! I am pleased with my first crop of garlic and look forward to improvements for next year. The favorite was the hardneck. The cloves are so large but limited to only about 5 to 7 per bulb. The taste was really nice - less sharp than the softneck varieties. I harvested about 100 hardneck and about 60 softnecks. I made 5 garlic braids with the softnecks. I've saved the largest bulbs for seed stock and will be planting them Oct/Nov time frame for a June harvest next spring.

Other than that I've been providing horse riding instruction for my daughter - she hits the show circuit this fall if all goes well. I've also been trying to get motivated in my crocheting....lots of projects and ideas just short on motivation. Still lots of projects around the house and making salsa for Christmas presents. Next year I am definitely planting tomatoes - they are really expensive to buy for the salsa - I could have given gold necklaces cheaper!!!!

Hope you are adjusting to the changing season and getting along just fine!