Winter finally arrived!

The Mid-Atlantic was visited by old man winter this past weekend. But, knowing it was definitely heading right for us, I decided to open up my leaf mold composters while it was snowing in order to get a little moisture into them. It was snowing at a pretty good pace when I went out as attested to by this picture.

It was supposed to come down at a very fast and furious pace for several periods throughout the day. So, in the morning, I went out and took off the tops of the various composters and dumped the snow from the lids into each container as seen from the pictures below.

Overnight, we were hit with an ice storm which is causing major traffic issues and sidewalk problems. Some areas have had power outages. I'm just grateful to be retired and not out in the mess. Here is a picture showing the ice out in our and our neighbors yards this morning.

We are expecting another wave of snow today through early tomorrow. I"m going to have to go out and get my front porch and sidewalks unvovered before that hits.
As of yesterday, the plants in the greenhouse have been hanging in there but I need to get out there to check their status today. Here's hoping they came through.
There is lots to do and report on in the coming couple of days so once the snows/ice are gone, I'll start digging in to them. Please check back periodically for the updates. As always, Happy Gardening Everyone!

   

Pre-season Fall gardening preparations.

Yes, it is almost that time of the season again.  Yesterday was absolutely a beautiful day so I decided to take advantage and do some preps early.  I cleaned out my bed that has protection for when the weather takes a change in course.  So, I pulled the few weeds there were and decided it was time to add some of compost for nutrient enrichment.

I pulled several shovel fulls of compost and screen sifted them so that I wouldn't have any unfinished compost in my beds.  Here is a picture of before and after compost to show you the reason for the sifting.  The compost in the wood bin is unsifted and  you can certainly see the difference in the compost in the wheel barrel bed.

Then, after sifting several loads, I unloaded it into the bed where I am going to attempt to grow the winter crops.  This is probably about ten shovel fulls of sifted dirt.

I then spread it out to even the bed out.  I will let it now sit and work its way into the soil beneath it.

So, I will water this area a few times to allow for the compost to release the nutrients deeper into the soil.  That, in turn will supply the plants I put in there with the nutrients at their root level.

All the while I was doing this, I was being closely watched by our neighbors super inquisitive dog Meg.  I don't mind a bit.  She's really a sweet dog.  Hopefully she is picking up some pointers.

While I was doing all these preps, I noticed there were several cucumbers and a lot of new pepper blooms.  I watered the area around noon yesterday and followed with another soaking in the evening. A ritual that I always follow with no bad results.  

So, this morning, I went out to the garden and picked the cucumbers.  Can't believe all the cucumbers and peppers I am getting this year.  And no, I am not complaining.   

We will be enjoying these over the next few days.  There is nothing like eating fresh vegetables you have grown from seed to what you see.  Very satisfying indeed.  Well, that's all for now.  Hope you are having a great season.  Happy Gardening everyone!