Garden Shame

Summer's color lingers,


but fall is in the air none-the-less!


The days have shortened considerably...
making chore time later in the morning.


I head out to the barn when the sky is just beginning to lighten...these days around 6:30.


I walk the horses to the upper pasture where they can comfortably spend the morning...


cool...


and fly-free!


Garden season is winding down.
There are still fall vegetables that will hopefully develop over the coming month.


Tomato harvest has slowed and the basil has flowered.
How sad I will be when these two are gone for the year.


I hate to admit this, but I have let the garden be overtaken by weeds.
This is a transitional time for the garden.


We are in the midst of making plans to build new garden boxes.


The original boxes (some of which are only 5 years old) have rotted.
Although at one time cedar was a good wood for this purpose...
those were the days when old-growth cedar was available.
Sadly, when we built our boxes there was nothing available but new growth cedar...
which does not have weather-proof qualities of the old stuff.


Back to the drawing board.

Next spring we will be starting from scratch,
I have decided that I will plant grass between the garden boxes instead of
fighting weeds in the mulch beds that are presently there.
We will leave enough room between boxes to allow for one pass-through of the mower.
(I'd rather mow than weed any day!)


We have not yet decided what material to use for the raised beds
and I am interested in any suggestions that you may have.

I am anticipating that this will be a big undertaking,
but once finished should be our permanent garden.


I've got to tell you... I am loving this weather.
If only fall would last longer, making winter just a little shorter.
If only.....

Comments

Dawn said…
Summer has left back the back door and Autumn has moved in here, I have clearing beds and preparing them for winter, I love this time of winding down, more time to to stand and stare and take it all in :-)
jaz@octoberfarm said…
my cedar rotted too so i bought galvanized horse troughs and that's what i use now. we sprayed our walkways with a vinegar, salt and dawn mixture this year and it sure took care of the weeds!
Ann said…
We are in the process of building a 80' x 120' vegetable garden with the majority of it being raised beds. We are planning on using concrete blocks with toppers. There are a lot of nice examples on the internet.
Anonymous said…
I had my friends build me a long flower box from leftover Trex deck material from their contracting jobs. It weighs an absolute ton, so it needs to be built in place, but it'll last forever. It's pricey, but you won't have to do anything more than power wash it occasionally!

~~Ashley~~
I've never heard that new growth cedar is not as resistant to rotting as old growth cedar. Thanks for that tip!
Lynne said…
Great horse close ups . . .
But then, I like all of your pics . . .
I like your plan . . .
I would rather mow than weed . . . EVER!
deodar said…
We had some old sheets of galvanized roofing panels, the kind with the ripples. We cut them in half the long way and got some galvanized window wells and bolted them to the ends of the panels. We now have two 3'x11' beds 2'high. I also bought five 3'x6' x 1'h galvanized beds I'll be installing this fall. Hopefully they'll outlast me!
Katmom said…
Happy Autumn and welcome home... hugz
>^..^<