November started off with….rain. A lot of it. Drought? What drought? It was officially ended by the 3rd week of November, when already 8″ of rain had fallen in many parts of Western Washington. If anything, it means I can now remove more of the “grass” (more like clover, moss and weeds) to put in more beds in the old urban homestead, with a lot less work.
With the first freeze not here yet, the thornless blackberries tried for one more explosion of color.
And if November has come, it is time to get everything into the greenhouse. More in there, the warmer it is apparently. Not pictured is later in the month I wrapped certain items in frost cloth for more protection.
In early November as the first frost happened, I pulled my fall peas and enjoyed the sweetness.
Mushrooms growing in the straw I used to insulate plants. Love the chewed on ones!
The winds might strip the leaves finally, but the crabapples stay for the birds.
The 3rd week of November came and the confused Rhody is trying to bloom (and this isn’t a winter one, which does bloom in cold weather).
I looked at it, and thought…oy, tonight is going to suck for you. It froze that night, and started the long late fall freeze here (yes!).
We had 2 back to back windstorms as well. Thankfully the parts that fell, came down on the county side, and didn’t take out the fence. This snag was about 20 feet long. Our house backs up to a rail to trail, and the trees that fringe us are on a bench above it.
Then the cold settled in. Which it should. The fruit trees, especially the apple ones, need a certain amount of freeze days. Most years a long arctic chill comes down through Canada, and settles in for 1 to 4 weeks. The downside is the air can get pretty nasty after a few weeks (due to wood fires in homes), but the days are blue skies and gorgeous. It’s been in the mid 40’s during the day and 20 to 27* at night. I’ll take that!
I had forgotten about the olives on our hardy olive tree, and happened upon them. In the freeze they had changed. They were no longer hard, and if you gently touched them, olive oil bubbled out. Pretty cool. Hopefully the tree is hardy enough and makes it through the winter.
The best was Walker spotting this in the barren vine maple tree. He’s got eyes! He wanted me to take it down, but I told him, hey, maybe next spring another birdy will be lazy and want it 😉
Winter is here….and even with sunny days I notice I am not doing much in my gardens. They are tucked in for the winter. Once it thaws and the weather shifts again (hopefully later this week), I will be back doing more work – but also planning for next year. But it’s kind of nice having free time to do stuff inside.
Really nice post! Me and my husband also keep our garden still. Despite the rains and low temperatures we have few cauliflower plants that are still growing, as well as broccoli, lettuce and leek! I love keeping the garden till the last moment! You have a lovely garden! Thanks for sharing!