2024 November Musings
November greetings fellow gardeners and nature enthusiasts,
Garden bed amended with compost and prepped for planting garlic!
It’s hard to believe that the first day of this month reached a temperature of 80 degrees. It belies the fact that our woods are all but bare-boned. Winds have turned fallen leaves into whirling dustleaf devils soaring them in one direction and then another. Afternoons darken so early now that my to-do list always remains undone. An indicator to slow down. Not quite yet; there’s an urgency in the air.
Garlic being planted—don’t forget your fertilizer!
The summer and fall toils of putting food by are in the past, and that’s both a relief and a grand satisfaction. The garlic is planted, as well as my fall flower bulbs. There is still time to do both if you haven’t already done so.
It’s been a very dry last couple of months, so please pay close attention to watering. That includes not only your garlic and fall bulbs, but for so much more. When plants lack moisture going into winter, they are much more susceptible to winter injury. Trees and shrubs can lack vigor in the following growing season and sometimes won’t show symptoms for a year or more. This is especially true for evergreens, as they transpire moisture all winter but can’t replace it once the ground freezes. I will be watering deeply several times before the soil hardens.
Weeding for me this time of year is a bug-a-boo, but I force myself to do as much as possible. Many of the perennial weeds give up a bit of their grasp by this point making them easier to remove. This is especially true of quack grass (my nemesis). Look to eliminate bedstraw, hairy bittercress, briars and so much more now, and you won’t have to deal with it in the spring.
Paying attention to erosion potential is also so important. Our weather these days is so unpredictable that we want to take all precautions to save our precious soil and to prevent damaging run-off. Our veggie gardens are covered with 3” of mulched leaves. Winter rye will still germinate if you sow right away and still do a good job. Straw is great, too, and it will cover my garlic, strawberries, and worrisome perennials come next month.
Now onto the animal kingdom- never a dull moment around here. Lions and tigers not quite yet, but bears? Oh yes! A pack of howling and yipping coyotes very close to the house most nights? Oh yes! Red fox lurking and salivating over our chickens? Oh yes! (Don’t worry- so far so good). Rabbits, skunks, raccoons, and turkeys leave us their calling cards daily. Jeez, I’m beginning to feel quite singled out as a homo sapiens these days.
Many species of songbirds are making the Knoll their home, and that’s been a pure delight. We witness seasonal change. Hummingbirds depart and juncos arrive. Redwings and grackles load the nearby branches, and are the marauders of suet. It seems in a flash, they’re gone. Hawks catch the updrafts above our heads as they head south. Several hundred robins have descended for the past few days, scouring our meadow and lawn. The lingering leaves on a neighbor’s tree vibrate as these birds devour the multitude of berries. All to elevate their energy reserves for the long migration. The birdbaths are constantly busy; water is not the easiest to find these days.
All these aforementioned incidents are reminders to ask that you take special care to store all food sources in a secure place. There is intent on the minds of these creatures, as experience has taught us. As an extension here, this also applies to our trash. We know trash is one of the main attractants to wildlife in general, but especially to bears. They are great opportunists, and taking care with what we dispose is a very important way to keep these ursids safe and in the wild.
Great deals to be had at our Truckload Sale!
So important things are going on at Nashua Farmers’ Exchange. The Can’t-Wait-For-Once-A-Year Truckload Wild Bird Seed Sale happens when the tractor-trailer carrying 22 tons of bird seed rolls into our parking lot Thursday, November 14, 2024. Prices will be available for viewing online November 13, but not a minute sooner. Remember, the sale is what’s on the truck only. It ends Saturday, November 16, 2024 at 2:30 pm or if we sell out of a particular item. These are the best prices of the year on new crop seed. FYI- most of our sunflower hearts come from out of the country. It might be a good time to stock up now! Hope to see you then.
We continually feature new items- always functional, some with a touch of whimsy. So please check out our many choices for the holidays and beyond! Pets and their humans? Always a priority! Livestock too. Come on down; you just might be surprised.
That’s it for now.
Judy