Preparing the Soil for Winter
There have been two frosts, at least, now and the garden is cleared of vegetation, excepting the winter squash and Brussels sprouts. Yesterday, I lightly raked cow manure into the soil and applied straw as a weed suppressor. The baled straw came from a dairy farmer near Kewaskum, WI
The flowers are still thriving, which surprises me. We cut down the Love-Lies-Bleeding and it is now in huge bouquets throughout the house. The cosmos, zinnias and marigolds are still holding on.
Seed saving has been a fun hobby. I volunteer at the Urban Ecology Center once a week in Washington Park, and have been working on my plant identification skills. Leah has been very helpful at this as she already knows so much that I am just learning. At any rate, the little desk drawer in the basement that I had been using is nearly full of envelopes of all sizes containing flower, fruit, herb, tree and vegetable seeds.
We visited Sarah in Oshkosh this past weekend and attended "From the Land", a folk art festival. Leah didn't get anything, but was tempted. I purchased two heads of soft-neck garlic and wrote down the titles of interesting books, which the local public libraries are sure to carry. Four soft-neck cloves are planted in the same bed as the wheat.
With our harvest and supplements from farmers markets, festivals and local you-pick farms our kitchen has been busy! We have made countless soups (already), applesauce, more jam and salsa. Pies are soon to come, but there's only the two of us and it's not healthy to eat that much pie, which we would do. I continue to bake bread regularly, turning out wheat, sourdough and rye breads; shaping the breads to an aesthetically pleasing state continues to be a struggle.
We renewed the subscription to Seed Savers and they sent us a packet of carrot seeds as a thank you!
Leah's birthday was earlier in the month and so we are the proud owners of a camping hammock, a German cookbook and a new car: 2004 Subaru Outback wagon.
The flowers are still thriving, which surprises me. We cut down the Love-Lies-Bleeding and it is now in huge bouquets throughout the house. The cosmos, zinnias and marigolds are still holding on.
Seed saving has been a fun hobby. I volunteer at the Urban Ecology Center once a week in Washington Park, and have been working on my plant identification skills. Leah has been very helpful at this as she already knows so much that I am just learning. At any rate, the little desk drawer in the basement that I had been using is nearly full of envelopes of all sizes containing flower, fruit, herb, tree and vegetable seeds.
We visited Sarah in Oshkosh this past weekend and attended "From the Land", a folk art festival. Leah didn't get anything, but was tempted. I purchased two heads of soft-neck garlic and wrote down the titles of interesting books, which the local public libraries are sure to carry. Four soft-neck cloves are planted in the same bed as the wheat.
With our harvest and supplements from farmers markets, festivals and local you-pick farms our kitchen has been busy! We have made countless soups (already), applesauce, more jam and salsa. Pies are soon to come, but there's only the two of us and it's not healthy to eat that much pie, which we would do. I continue to bake bread regularly, turning out wheat, sourdough and rye breads; shaping the breads to an aesthetically pleasing state continues to be a struggle.
We renewed the subscription to Seed Savers and they sent us a packet of carrot seeds as a thank you!
Leah's birthday was earlier in the month and so we are the proud owners of a camping hammock, a German cookbook and a new car: 2004 Subaru Outback wagon.