The weather is bleak, although my weather station data shows that the coldest it ever got was 32.8 degrees last night at 11:20 PM. Since then, it has been a steady climb up to the current temp of 41 degrees.
This got me into "Winter-mode" and I went outside to get a few much needed chores done.
First, I took-up the bamboo tomato stakes from two of the gardens. I will re-use these for many more years. The key is to store them each winter.
Next, I went around and emptied many hanging baskets and pots into the compost pile. The extra soil is great to mix with the table scraps & yard waste for next year's soil for these very same hanging baskets. I store them in the shed as seen above.
I've been watching how the Pac Choy (there're many different spellings - see link below) is doing and I'm amazed to see it so hardy & alive this far into the season. I had a lot of fun growing this Asian delicacy for the first time this year. As you can see, it's got yellow blooms all over the place. I tasted some leaves and it still tastes as good as the first leaves did harvested in July!
You can learn more about Pac Choy here:
http://theheirloomgardener.com/pacchoi.php
One last garden observation for today. The small corn patch (about 14 x 14 feet square) has finally died back and is ready to cut for holiday decoration. Up until about two weeks ago, this corn was still green when many other corn crops I saw in the Hilltowns were at this stage in the beginning of September.
In closing, it's great to spend some time outdoors but the best thing about that is coming back inside, adding another log or two in the stove and settling in for the rest of the day. A gray November day makes for a cozy day indoors as well!
:)
