Last of the Year - Time to Plan Next Year!

So, it's the end of October, the snow isn't quite here yet - but it will be soon.  The only outdoor chore left is cleaning out the planter boxes (the goose and the hanging baskets) and puting them up for next year.  That means finding a place to plant the goose's columbine, so it comes up next year.  Very exciting. :)

The rest of this fall has been plotting sewing projects, getting geared up for the Christmas season, and prepping for next spring.  The planning season starts now, making lists of supplies needed for next year and when to order them - seeds to be started inside have to be obtained near March in Alaska, and most of the suppliers don't start selling them locally until the end of April.  So this year I'll be ordering online, which means figuring things out soon so that I can budget.

The raspberries are trellised temporarily, but not well - just enough to get through the winter.  Next spring I plan on building them better supports, or weaving the canes into fencing to keep them upright.  Two green fence posts, 18" of green fencing between, leave the spaces between the first and second rows.  It will take a good number of fence posts to spread a relatively small area, but I think it will support them sufficiently as the canes grow high - they should grow up to 8 feet, I hope to keep them trimmed to five or six so that I can keep the berries coming. 

The blueberries didn't find time to really ripen this year - too cold for the last month of the summer.  Though if I'd waited until now they would have been good, as I found a few berries I missed that were tasty and sweet, plump and deep purple.

Next year I also must repair the trellis for the peas - the moose pushed in the netting on the back corner of our garden to eat the leftover pods this year - no seed peas for us.  :(

Change in the Weather

So, the temperature fell, and so did the rain this weekend.  No mowing happened, not much time in the garden either.  Hoping for one more good weekend - maybe a couple of evenings? - to get the rest of the gardening and outside preparations done for this year. 

I need to get out there and do the prep work.  Also, I've decided to try to pot a few of my herbs, and bring them inside for winter - need to clear the plant shelf for them, and see if it works out.  I used to do it when I was a kid in Minnesota, but I need to do it soon or the shock will kill them.  Maybe tonight after class.  Or maybe I'll leave class a little early.  We'll see. 

I also need to get around to moving the compost heap.  I want to shift it all the way into the corner, and fix up the front part of the garden. 

So much to do!