As we head into the month of November we can most certainly feel the crispness in the air and the chill that reminds us that winter is right around the corner.  We have cleaned up the garden beds and readied them for the next season adding compost and shredded leaves.  We have quite a few trees on the property and with each tree comes many, many leaves!  Raking leaves was once a dreaded deed and there seemed no escape from the hours of hard work and blisters that would result.  Was once ... now we take a deep breath and dive in!!  We know that the leaves we rake, shred and put back into the soil will nurture the plants next year.  We lay a heavy layer of shredded leaves as mulch over the garlic bulbs that were recently planted and cover the remaining beds with a layer that will eventually decompose over the winter months.

Now that the gardens are cleared and awaiting next year, it's time to bring out the seed catalogs and notes from previous years gardening and start planning for the Spring!  It may be a long cold winter, but once those seeds arrive in the mail ... life is good again!  We do save a lot of our own seed but as every gardener knows there are new and exciting seeds to experiment with and as always an order must be sent!

I am working the soil on a new property and experimenting to see what will actually grow in this climate.  The soil is hard clay and the summer months are brutally hot.  My garden that I had planted out yonder hoping for a great harvest actually shriveled up and died under the hot summer sun.  This next year we have revised our gardening plans and constructed raised beds close to the house.

I will be growing all the basics such as tomatoes, peppers, peas, zucchini and lettuce and I will also be dedicating a large portion of the garden to gourds and flowers that I can dry and use in arrangements.  Heirloom beans seem to be something that interests me as of late.  Usually I start seeds indoors around March and it never fails that come May I realize I have way too many plants!   This year I am concentrating on keeping the planting under control or maybe I will have a sale and sell transplants to other gardeners.  I have my two main seed catalogs from last year that I will start browsing - Seed Savers Exchange and Baker's Creek.

As I plan the garden, I am considering which plants to grow that I can use for a future business .......

                                                                                                                                                                    (to be continued)