Notes for October 30, 2008

Hey look at that it rained again! Wednesday morning I emptied 1.3" from the rain gauge. Pretty soon I am going to have to put the rain gauge away or its in trouble of freezing if I don't empty it in time.

Tuesday while at work it snowed! Of course where I was it didn't accumulate except for slush on the parked cars of the parking lot. But on my drive home (heading south) about halfway home I noticed a dusting in the grassy areas. Then when I got home I couldn't believe how much the northern suburbs of Philadelphia got.

Notes for October 26, 2008

Hey we finally got some rain too! I emptied about an inch from the rain gauge. I should probably put the rain gauge away soon. Last Monday morning it was 28 degrees and Friday morning it was 26 degrees. It was Friday morning that burnt my tomatoes and peppers. Today I picked the last bunch of tomatoes and a few small peppers. All of the tomatoes were green or starting to turn orange. In any case the tomatoes will sit on the windowsill to ripen.

Yesterday the wind blew pretty good and I had a few branches to clean up in the yard. It only sprinkled or showered all day and it wasn't until the evening that we finally got some heavier stuff. Which was exceptionally nice since there were forest fires not too far away and the fire fighters needed the rain. Friday morning the fog get the smoke next to the ground and it was kind of spooky.

Today I finally was able to mulch the leaves in my yard and start piling up the mulched leaves in my compost pile for next years mulch. I use a leaf blower to get the leaves out of the driveway and into the grass and then mow them over with my mulching mower with the bag on. It took me about three hours to finish. The leaves were a little heavier since yesterday's rain. There was also some grass clippings in with the leaves which was a bonus. The next mulching I will lower the deck of the mower to its lowest setting (now that the crabgrass has been frosted).

I also picked a handful of radishes.

Notes for October 19, 2008

I'm still picking and yesterday I picked tomatoes, cherry tomatoes and a few small peppers. I will probably be picking radishes next week. My radishes and carrots are looking nicely and I did water them too.

I had every intention of mulching the leaves that have fallen either today or yesterday but I cut my thumb pretty good yesterday so that's out of the question until next week.

The weather has gotten seasonal again and we turned the heat back on yesterday.

Notes for October 15, 2008

Its now officially mid October and I'm still picking. Last night I picked tomatoes (cherry and regular) and a couple of peppers. Then I watered my radishes (which are starting to form) and my carrots (which are getting bushier).

What kind of made my day yesterday was when as I entered my veggie garden, I waited for the monarch butterfly to finish as he was on the cosmos drooping over the gate into my garden.

Notes for October 13, 2008

Yes its hard to believe that we had the heater on for two days last week. We had two days where the temperature when I got up was 36 F. Since then we haven't used the heater. Its been in the 70s during the day and only 50s at night. I think its supposed to nearer to seasonal temperatures by the weekend.

Notes for October 11, 2008

Yes its October and I am still picking. Today I picked tomatoes and a pepper and then watered the tomatoes, peppers, radishes and carrots.

I didn't cut the grass or mulch leaves. This morning I had to go to my mothers place and do some work for her, so pushing a mower will have to wait until next week.

I still have flowers in bloom, but its any of my perennials. I have marigolds all over the place (kind of nice that I started them from seed and planted them all over) and my cosmos are in bloom (red, pink and white). Did I mention that they are 7 feet tall. I swear to you that I did nothing to them but water them every few days as I did my veggies. The stems are an inch thick at the bottom.

Notes for October 8, 2008

This morning and yesterday the temperature started at 36 degrees F but I'm still picking veggies. I picked tomatoes and peppers yesterday and then I watered the carrots and radishes.

Last night we did turn the heat on for the first time this season (it was chilly when I got out of the shower).

Notes for October 6,2008

Saturday afternoon I was able to work in the yard. I first used the leaf blower and cleared the leaves out of the driveway into the grass and then cut the grass throughout the yard (mulching the leaves along with it). There weren't that many leaves yet, not enough to bag really for mulch. I had a scare with the lawn mower. I ran over something (a stick I think) that bent the inner mulching housing. I was able to fix it by using a hammer and bending the housing back away from the blade which was hitting it. I had to do this one more time after I bumped into a stump. So I kept the hammer close by for the rest of the day.

I picked tomatoes and cherry tomatoes and peppers. I pulled the Lima beans and the string beans. The Lima Beans weren't really worth it (what I picked wasn't enough for a serving). So I may have learned that I need to plant them earlier. I then thinned the radishes and carrots and weeded the carrots as well. Then I watered the carrots and radishes.