Spreading

It actually turned out to be quite nice today. Sure, it was windy, which makes it difficult when I am trying to rake leaves, but still, no snow except in the really shady spots like the front porch, no rain, pretty warm, and sunny. Not bad after two days of snow.

We got outside pretty early to start tackling the fall chores. My time was pretty much devoted to weeding and cleaning up the bed where all of the tulips and daffodils are in the spring. I figure if I start here, these are the beds that get all of the early attention first thing next year, so whatever I can get done here the better they’ll look. What I don’t know is how much I’ll still have to do to them with all of this attention now. I’m assuming the leaves and clutter will still accumulate, but I’m hoping I can just rake off the top and give them a quick once over in the spring, not have to do a full clean up now and then do it again then. I hope.

Frank was a busy beaver today, and I feel like he did a lot more than I did, because I mostly worked in this one huge bed. He brought compost and mulch over with his pond scoop. He emptied the trailers that I filled with debris and brush and put it all in the compost, combining it with coffee grounds. He turned one of the piles, too, but I’m really not sure which one. I sort of look to him to do all of the compost planning and execution. I just come up with lots of stuff for the piles and he works the magic and has it appear when I need it.

I got a good start on raking the leaves out of the center of the driveway, but there are tons more. If it stays dry for a few days and I don’t get it done, I will just mow them into the lawn. That will make Frank happy, but I’d prefer to put them in the compost pile so that I can have the great compost for my flower beds. I don’t care about the lawn that much, and I like the weed-inhibiting factors that composted leaves give the compost.

Frank pulled our last lonely potato plant out of the compost bin where he’d tossed some sprouting potatoes a few months ago. They’d finally succumbed to the snow, I guess, and he got about half a basket of weirdly shaped tubers. We don’t know what they’ll actually taste like, but we figured we had nothing to lose, and they could be yummy.

He found some mushrooms which he thinks are honey mushrooms having another flush and picked them. They look weird to me, though, so I haven’t done anything with them. I really like honey mushrooms, though. I think we’ll look them up to be sure they really are what we think they are.

I’m just absolutely loving the plumes on my ornamental grass. It was hard to photograph because the winds were pretty stiff today, but I think the plant itself is doing great for just two years old. Last year, I think I only saw one plume. When I was weeding around it, though, I saw lots and lots of little baby plants. For a second, I thought I’d save them and plant them in other spots in the garden. Then I came to my senses and just tossed them into the compost basket. I don’t need invasive plants, even if they are gorgeous.