Doomsday (For Gardening)

Editor's Note: This column was submitted on Oct. 18.

The hard freeze last week has finished off my gardening for this year. I’m sure it finished off everyone’s gardening as well. We saw it drop to 19°, which was a good 7° colder than predicted. I’d spent Wednesday pulling squash, pumpkins, a few late cucumbers, a lot of green peppers, and what I knew would be the last harvest of husk cherries, as well as moving the remaining houseplants back inside for the winter. The tomatoes got covered because I thought there was a chance they’d survive. So now I have lots of wool blankets and one heavy tarp to refold and put away for next year’s hope.

I also dug up and potted some basil and parsley into a window box. I put some late (young) dill and catmint into the matching window box. They’ll sit in front of the sunny French doors in my kitchen. I hope they’ll survive because fresh herbs are so much nicer to cook with. We’ll see if I can nurture them inside this time. I’ve failed so often in the past, but I remain hopeful.

Since I know winter is breathing down our necks, I’ve completed several other fall chores. The window screens are stored and all the windows have been washed. (I still have to do the inside of the French doors, but that’s a project that involves moving all my rock painting paraphernalia. I’m just not in the mood for that. And since it’s the inside, it can wait until I am in the mood.)

The leaf mowing has happened twice so far. There are still a lot of leaves on the trees, so that chore will have multiple repeats - at least until the snow (that nasty word!) covers them.

Three more fence posts have been removed. These had held up my pea fence. That was work. The heavy clay soil under the garden did not want to release its hold on them. I had to dig a lot of dirt away before I could “rock” the posts loose and pull them. Two sections of fencing are rolled up and stored. There are still three posts holding up the other side of the pea enclosure to be dug. The scarlet runner beans had completely engulfed the netting on that barrier and will need to be cut away if I’m going to rescue that netting to use again next summer. Then there are five more posts at the top of the garden (holding up the solar electric wires) to be pulled so I can get the garden tractor into that space to till the ground next spring. Whew. I’m tired thinking about it.

Most of the dead vegetation has been removed. The vines from the squash, pumpkins, and cukes are removed so they don’t wrap around the tines on the tiller. The husk cherry plants also tend to wrap up, plus they had way too many fruits left on them. It seems all the seeds from those sprout. I don’t need nor want that many of those! Obviously, the tomato vines still need to be pulled and tossed on my discard pile. Only the volunteer tomatoes are gone. They grew wherever I’d dropped some fruits last summer. I did save the fruits from those, so I can still enjoy some “real” tomatoes as they ripen.

I have healthy-looking geraniums in huge planters I’d planned to repot that I hauled inside. I just ran out of time and energy. That repotting should be done before I write the next column. Note I said “should” - I know how I am. There are two beautiful begonias in those huge pots as well. I’ll probably try to keep those alive. I do have my Don Quixote moments.

I’m making a note to myself: plant more salvia next summer. It fared surprisingly well after freezing two nights in a row. The actual dainty blossoms dried up, but the leaves are as green as ever. Johnny jump-ups and pansies are also very hardy.

Does anyone have any sure-fire ways to kill/prevent the annual box elder bug invasion? My home-defense bug spray may have killed some, but they just keep coming, turning the sunny side of the house black. Plus they keep sneaking into our living space. I hate them!