September is my month to get going again outside. It's getting cooler outside and the gardener soil under my nails is about gone. I refer to my garden journal entries for the past several months to help guide me in planning my garden efforts for the coming fall. My backyard journal becomes a valuable gardener resource now because fall is when many of my ideas will come to fruition. I have fall vegetable gardens to get in the ground, fall bulbs to plant, beds to finish cleaning, plants to start moving and I must start keeping a close eye on the weather. The weather here in the Ozarks has been strange this year anyway, and the first frosts of fall have come as early as the end of September. I must have protective covers at the ready in case the frosts come early once again. My gardening efforts this year will hopefully take me at least deep into the late fall or early winter but I will also need to watch the cash flow this year and maintain my low budget gardening efforts, because the holidays will be here soon with their financial needs as well. But, I hang on to my dreams and have grown accustomed to low budget gardening. I have learned through years of experience how to squeeze a lot out of few resources and this fall will be no different this year. As my garden journal to this point shows, I have not done very well this year because I tried to many new things, many of which were radical at best. Starting this month, I shall go back to what I know best and leave the radical for those more daring in planning my garden and implementing it and I shall rely heavily on my garden journal as a valuable gardener resource to keep me from making the same mistakes again. Starting this September, I shall look forward to "Renewing The View" as I revamp my herb and flower beds as well as renewing the gardener soil under my nails. It is our hope, that the majority of the health issues that plagued us this past summer are either behind us or managed and with smaller beds to concentrate on, perhaps I'll be able to enjoy some fresh vegetables deep into early winter and perhaps beyond. And when it finally does come to an end, it will all be recorded in this, my backyard journal to enjoy, study and use as a guide for next year in planning my garden. And all of this starts this month. Isn't fall grand? It gives all of us a chance to begin again and end the year on a positive note. Will my note be positive or will it be sour? Only time and effort will tell. Tuesday, September 01, 2009 - I spent the day cleaning weeds from the beds. Dig, dig, dig and pull, pull, pull - several large loads to the overflow compost pile. I cut the yarrow and coneflowers (Echinacea purpurea) back pretty hard. Before cutting plants back, I collected seeds from: I'm going to make another attempt at starting some seeds to sell next year to raise a little extra cash. I keep collecting, but never get them started. In the right situation, I know I can make a little money. I screwed up again by not taking pictures of the various flowers. I know this would help to sell many plants that otherwise would not be sold. Folks relate to a picture, but have a hard time relating to plants they are not familiar with otherwise. While I was at it, I pulled up all of the soaker hoses. These will need to be soaked in water with a little soap and cleaned, then hooked up to a hose and pressured out before they are reinstalled in the beds after planting and before they are mulched for winter. As the hoses are reinstalled, I need to cover or cap each end and make sure to place markers at each end. Wednesday, September 02, 2009 - It was raining when I awoke this morning. Nothing heavy, just nice light showers and cool with the temps in the mid 50's. The rain amounted to just about 1/10th of an inch or a little less. But, with the cooler temps, it sure felt like fall! Thursday, September, 03, 2009 - I planted more fall crops today. They included 15 broccoli and 7 Pak-Choy plants. The remaining broccoli plant were saved for now as replacements. I took the time to clean the soaker hoses I pulled out of the beds. These will be reinstalled as the beds are renewed. Back To Top Friday, September 04, 2009 - Other than a little bit of weeding this morning in order to get the granddaughter out of the house, I pretty much worked on writing today. I started in raining this afternoon and rained about 3/8" by late evening. Saturday, September 05, 2009 - I got up to a lot of fog and mist this morning. It sure looked and felt like a fall morning. It was great! I'm trying to figure out in my mind just how I want to (or can) protect at least one bed for fall. I'm still off of work and my very limited income is a big factor and concern. What I would like to do simply is probably not going to happen. So what is my plan "B" going to be? Picked more squash and a lot of tomatoes today. I've got a bad case of powdery mildew going in the tomatoes. It's causing a lot of foliage destruction and I believe it is why so many green tomatoes are dropping. I've simply got to take time to spray! I've got the materials, I just have to take time to do it! Sunday, September 06, 2009 - Another foggy, misty morning. But not as much as yesterday. A good morning to turn on some Bluegrass, get a cup of coffee and catch up on some more writing and my garden journal. I've got much that needs done outside, but I've also got much that needs done on the computer. So it's Sunday and I think I'll take some time off from "chores". Back To Top Monday, September 7, 2009 - Digging out old "mole baskets", digging out mint gone wild, prepping to plant and mulching. That was today. It was a little foggy, a little cool and rather nice this morning. Another morning that beckons to be enjoyed and hints of fall. Gosh I love fall! I created and installed many mole baskets over the last few years where plants were being destroyed by moles burrowing. These were made from simple chicken wire and fashioned into the form of an open-topped basket. A large hole was dug, the basket placed inside and the plant placed in it. They worked well for the purpose intended until the plants died. Then they are as much trouble to remove as they are to install and they are never in a place where you want another plant. It would be much easier to get rid of the grubs that the moles are after and then the moles, but not nearly as cheap. Why did the plants die in the first place though? This has been somewhat of a puzzle to me from the get-go. This place is not very conducive to growing many plants. Many of which should be no problem to grow at all. Among the many failures here have been: Pyrethrum Daisy Clary Sage Pennyroyal Black Cohosh Mayapple Jack-In-The-Pulpit Wintergreen Rudbeckia Sage
Many other plants have survived, but never thrived and seem to just hang on. Among these have been: Cranesbill Elecampane Chrysanthemum Rue Meadowsweet Ferns
Many of these are a surprise to me with all of the shade this place has. Some of the problems I have been able to identify are: Large roof overhangs (more than a normal home with this being an "arts and crafts" style home). This keeps the soil around the house unusually dry. An extremely high clay content (even for the Ozarks). Outside of total removal of the gardener soil down deep and massive remediation with huge amounts of organic mater down deep, all of the organic matter I have incorporated thus far has done little to help. Very slow drainage when it does rain. This is largely due to the high clay content.
Many, if not most of these marginal plants, I think I'm going to dig and try growing in containers. But, I'm not real keen on this idea either. Because, I seem to get too busy to properly care for them and the older I get, the worse I seem to be at caring for potted plants. But given the choice between loosing them altogether and perhaps saving them to enjoy, perhaps containers are the best option for now. Another factor to consider is overwintering the containers. Anyway, I dug out more of the mole baskets in preparation for moving many plants this fall and "Renewing The View". Right now, I'm planning on basically revamping the entire south side of the house, starting at the front and working my way back. I'll lay an 18 inch strip of landscape fabric along the foundation and make this an exclusive "NO-PLANT ZONE" which will be permanently covered with mulch for now. Perhaps this can be replaced later with rock. This will leave a strip about two feet wide along the front for planting. As I plant, I will spread the plants out more, lay down a soaker hose and cover this with thick newspaper and grass mulch. This will get the plants further from the house where perhaps I will have a chance to keep them watered enough without the water running into the basement. Right now, I'm leaning towards moving all of the drought-tolerant and taller plants to this area. Lastly, our son mowed the yard today. I mulched the Broccoli and Pak-Choy heavily and the rest of the clippings were placed in the compost. I wasn't sure about mulching anything else for now because it's time to start digging and I would like to get some of the weeds sprouted out of the beds I have cleaned. Back To Top Tuesday, September 08, 2009 - I started prepping the area at the Southeast corner for the first plants that will be moved. This amounted to pulling up my concrete steps and grubbing out the mint that was going rampant there. These were "escapees from when I originally dug it up and moved it. Later, I will start digging compost into the area. But first, I will need to move the Cranesbill that is barely clinging to life there and some "volunteer" Columbines. The Cranesbill will be moved to one of my homemade barrel planters. I started getting ready to dig the Cranesbill by getting the planter ready. This turned out to be a bit of a challenge though. The soil I am using in my potting mix has so much clay in it that even with copious amounts of compost and sand it is clogging the drain holes that are covered with screen. The solution was to cover the holes with conventional pot shards. This was covered with chicken wire and then a couple of nylon baking screens that my son got for me. What they were originally used for, I have no idea, but they are fairly heavy, appear to be made from a type of nylon and are a very fine weave. They filter the soil from the entire bottom of the soil and no more clogs. I realize that none of this is conventional, but one has to work with what they have at hand as a gardener resource. For the past couple of weeks, I've had a pretty Braconid wasp burrowing out holes in my patio bricks for nesting cavities. I've never been able to catch her where I could take a picture of her. Today, I finally caught her in the act and on camera. I was also able to catch a large green female Preying Mantis on the Russian Sage. I can always count on at least one Preying Mantis on the Russian Sage Every year and they didn't disappoint me this year. While taking pictures of flowers in my garden, I also caught on camera a couple swallowtail butterfly larva on the butterfly weeds. It was a pretty good day for "critters". Wednesday, September 09, 2009 - It's raining a very light, drizzly rain this morning with temps around 70 degrees @ 0700 and about 1/8 inch of rain thus far. More like a steady sprinkle with a little heavy fog. But it's still a very pretty morning for just taking a walk around the yard and seeing everything in the cool, damp weather. Everything looks differently in a foggy drizzle. The world is refreshed and invigorated with a lot of activity going on that can't be seen at any other time. It should be the desire of everyone and especially gardeners, to get out and view the world at these times. Everyone that does, and will pay attention to the little details going on around them, will gain a new respect and appreciation for the natural world. Of the many things I saw this morning, besides the number of slugs that were active of which I have many, was the life and death struggle between 2 tiny figures. But, before I get ahead of myself, let me set the stage first in order to better appreciate what transpired. The dainty, gossamer web was built in the upper leaves of one of the Shasta Daisies in the side yard. A tiny little web that wouldn't even have been noticed at all if it weren't for the moisture that clung to the web making it stand out a shimmering, silvery color against the dark green leaves of the daisy. The web was constructed with an upper and lower web, which were rather dense, much like a ceiling and floor. In between the two was an open area, like a gallery, in which the activity took place. The entire area wasn't more than 2 or 2 1/2 inches across. Within this open area, the rapid movements, which is what caught my eye, occurring within revealed a tiny, bright green figure less than 1/8 inch long frantically hopping first this direction and then another in jerky circles around the web. Upon further observance, I noticed another tiny figure less than the size of a pin-head, brown or grey in color (it was hard to tell because the figure was so tiny), also moving in very quick, jerky circles following the green figure When the green figure moved, the other tiny figure moved. When the green figure turned, the other figure turned. On and on they went, round and round the gallery of the web. This went on for several seconds. All of the movements were so fast that I wasn't able to determine just who the two tiny figures were, even though by now I suspected their identity. After several seconds the movements stopped with only one green figure being evident and their identities were revealed. After getting down for a closer look, it became evident that the figures participating in this spectacle of "chase me, chase me" were a tiny green "Leaf Hopper" and a tiny "Spider" locked in a life and death struggle for survival. The Leaf Hopper to save its life and the spider for a meal that would sustain its life. This got me to thinking a great many things: How much this is like life. All living things struggle with a great number of things; the necessities of life, personal gain, that which brings pleasure, power or social standing and yes, occasionally for life itself or to preserve it. When it comes to the bottom line, the only struggles that matter are those which support life. Life and the moment in which it is lived are all that we truly have. Everything else is just "stuff". Life and death, while being "polar opposites" are all part of and synonymous with the existence of what we call "life". Each needs, feeds off of and depends on the other. Without one, the other cannot exist. One is as much a part of living as the other. Neither is to be feared. But rather understood and excepted as "being". They are, have been and always will be the beginning and end of what we call life for all things. The middle, in which we currently reside cannot exist without the ends to support it and between the two, we walk an uncertain walk called life. These are the foundation upon which everything else exists. All life exists but for a little while and then it gives way to and makes a place for another to take its place. Life goes on. One beginning unto one ending upon this earth. All life that exists as we understand life to be, is powerless to cancel out either end of life. For when either end is lost, non-existence in the present form takes its place and consumes the whole. It is good that we have cool, drizzly mornings in which to find contemplation and the ability to learn many hidden things of life. All of Nature exists to teach the living about life. It is our decision as to whether or not to learn what nature has to teach us. It is mankind who is credited with the higher intelligence on this planet. A credit that is thrust upon mankind by mankind itself as a tribute to our own vanity. Yet, it is mankind who is the most ignorant about life. No other life form on this planet exhibits such a closed mind toward, and a lack of interest in, the lessons that surrounds us every day. It should be the goal of every person to grab a magnifying glass and raincoat and take advantage of every foggy. drizzly morning they can. Yet I contend, that few will ever know or ever appreciate the wonders of such.
Among many others, it was these things that came to the forefront of my mind as I strolled this damp drizzly morning. Oh how much I do enjoy a cool, damp, drizzly morning spent outdoors. The freshness of it and the lessons it can teach. I shall look forward to the next time and pray that I may be able to approach it with an open mind and a willingness to learn. For there in the still, damp coolness of the morning, it is I who shall become the better for it. Back To Top Thursday, September 10, 2009 - I got out this morning early to enjoy a cup of coffee outside. It was a delightfully cool morning (about 68 @ 0630), but extremely humid with a lot of rain around. But none here. It's rather strange the way the weather has acted the last few months. Most of the time, I can watch large weather systems building on radar and head straight for Bolivar, only to watch most of them split as they get here. The systems will then go north and south of us most of the time, leaving us to get little or no rain. Now, little or no rain is relative because the areas to the north and south get several inches, but we will receive less than an inch most of the time. After a couple of cups of coffee, I got around and did some final pruning before I start digging in the next day or two. Friday, September 11, 2009 - I got out about 0600 this morning with my usual coffee. The air is significantly cooler this time of year than it was just a few short weeks ago. It's really nice to enjoy a cup of coffee on the patio this time of year. It didn't take long before the urge to get to work hit me by doing some dead-heading on the Vinca and pull a few "pot weeds". The pink Vinca is really a pretty little plant, but it sure is a rather messy one as well. The blooms don't last but a day or two and then they start to wither and stick to everything they touch. The withering blooms plaster themselves to the leaves, other blooms, themselves and often encase newly emerging blossoms. I would have to say this trait is its only bad one. It didn't take long after that to start putting some of my garden bed planning to work by digging the first Cranesbill. This was the first of three to be dug. After getting it out of the ground and cleaned up, it was quite evident that I had a lot more Cranesbill than I have room to plant. After dividing the first plant where it naturally wanted to divide, I planted a large planter with it and a fairly large area in a bed and still had much left over. I'm going to try to plant some in the nursery bed I built to try and sell next spring. " What a novel idea - actually using the nursery bed as a nursery bed." Since building the bed and planting the first seeds, it has been anything but a nursery bed and right now is more of an eye-sore than anything else. After digging the Cranesbill, I dug the Mum out of the perennial bed, cleaned it up and planted it in a large pot on the patio. Now this Mum is a dark red one that I did not cut back during the summer. It started blooming in late June and has been blooming ever since. Right now, there are a great many buds setting and the show will continue until frost finally kills it down. While digging the area for the Cranesbill, I dug up several Daffodil bulbs that will need to be planted somewhere. Right now, I'm planning on planting most, if not all of them in the area where I'm moving the Elecampane, Russian Sage and Daisies. This will allow them to be seen from the street. Tomorrow, I plan on digging and moving the last remaining Elecampane. It is my hope that moving it to a location where it can be kept better watered will help to save it before it to dies. By keeping it out away from the house foundation, it won't be nearly as dry. I'll keep notes on this in my garden journal as I go along. Sunday, September 13, 2009 - It's looking like and supposed to rain, so I don't want to get to involved in something. But I can't just sit around either. I did some trimming on the nursery bed getting ready to dig it out and pruned the Wormwood back hard. I left a few choice sprouts to grow and take the place of the main stems that are there later. It kind of looks like three ratty "pom-poms" on sticks right now, but it won't take long to bush out again. By the way, it never did rain. Back To Top Tuesday, September 15, 2009 - Rain or no rain, I went ahead and started on the bed I got started. I moved the Elecampane to its new location. After digging it up, I found three distinct plants were growing together, so I separated them and planted all three. I added a lot of compost and hilled the soil up for drainage. After which I decided to start edging the bed by laying bricks on their sides around the bed and mulch heavily. The bricks will help to hold the mulch in place. It started to rain (of course), so that put an end to that project for a day or two. As of 1500, we received about 5/8 inch of rain and looking at the radar, it looks like there will be more later this evening. Thursday, September 17, 2009 - Started this day with a cup of coffee on the patio. It was so nice and cool with temps @0630 at 64 degrees F. I cut the zucchini, yellow crookneck and patty pan squash off and discarded the vines because they were so infested with downy mildew. The tomatoes are also ate up with downy mildew as well as just about everything else on the place. At first, my downy mildew spray was working, but as the year went on and it stayed so wet, no spray could keep up and it was requiring spray by the gallon upon gallon. As soon as I sprayed, it would come a little shower within a day or two and wash it all off. We seldom got enough or the right kind of rain to do any good. Just keep any sprays washed off. As part of our low budget gardening make over effort, we did some measuring of some mature plants and added some for future growth. Then we took our measurements and laid out planting locations where we are moving plants to with metal stakes. We also measured and laid out for the landscape fabric. But, before we could finish this, we had to remove the very heavy mulch we laid last fall. Because of the high mold content, this was added to the overflow compost pile. It is late enough into the year and most of the heavy weeding has been done, so we wet the pile down well and covered it tightly with plastic. This will hold in moisture and heat. Back at our low budget gardening bed make over, we've still got just a few plants to move out before we can continue. So we were preparing the place for the Columbine and Hollyhocks from the nursery bed. The nursery bed is going to be used as a holding area, which is part of why it was built in the first place. Just as with the other make over, we are adding bricks on edge as a border and mulch retention before we plant it. I got most of them in around this area before I gave out. It is really transforming the look for very little money. I'm liking the look so far. Friday, September 18, 2009 - We got back on our low-budget gardening make-over project this morning. The weather was ideal for doing garden work with the temp. at 0630, 63 degrees F. I got the rest of the brick edging placed around the area of the second bed I am moving plants to and from. It is looking really good. I back-filled along the bricks to help anchor the bricks and shed water away. My son helped me dig the Columbine from the first area and the remaining Hollyhocks from the nursery bed. These were planted in the new area of the second bed. He then dug out 2 old mole baskets from the first area so that digging could continue. We ended the day with everyone sitting on the patio after dark just talking and enjoying the granddaughter. The patio was dimly lit with the glow from the oil lanterns we bought. It was a very special evening because it was quite and the neighbor didn't have her garage lights on to spoil the atmosphere. I get so aggravated at her paranoia and obsession at security in this area where there hasn't been a crime in so long that no one can remember when, or if, there ever was one. The lanterns are filled with a Citronella Tikki Torch oil for bugs and while this oil does smoke more than conventional kerosene, it works really well. This concept is so nice, I believe I'm going to expand it with more lamps and with reflectors. Back To Top Saturday. September 19, 2009 - I spent the morning getting caught up on some of my garden journal work and a lot of pictures for my garden journals that needed processed. By the time I got caught up, it was drizzling. Nothing hard, just a light, very cool drizzle and has been drizzling off and on all afternoon. I did get out between showers and watered, because the radar showed it was not going to rain any significant amount any time soon. Sunday, September 20, 2009 - Rained 3/4 inch today in a series of little showers all day long. Much of the day it was something between a light mist and a very light rain. Actually, it was rather enjoyable getting out and walking around in it. Monday, September 21, 2009 - I had to run to Springfield this morning and it rained all afternoon - 2 3/8 inch and very cool. The temperature started out about 75 degrees before the rain and quickly dropped into the 60's and stayed there until night when it dropped into the upper 50's. While it was raining and between storms with lightning, I got out with my youngest granddaughter and splashed in some puddles on the patio. We also played under the gutter drips. She enjoyed this very much. Friday, September 25, 2009 - Since the heavy rains a few days ago there has been little going on outside in the garden. It's been extremely wet and the weather has been very cool and extremely cloudy since the rain, so there has been little drying. Most days have struggled to get into the upper 60's. Today, the weather forecasters are calling for clearing skies and sunshine with temps getting to near 80 degrees and tomorrow it is supposed to get into the mid 80's. So maybe some work can get done outside. I'm ready and wanting to get back to moving plants and working on the bed renovations. The weather is not a problem for planting, but it is foolish to do dirt-work in wet soil. The plan so far is to get the Russian Sage cut back and aerate the soil where it will go. I anticipate I can plant it today and perhaps the Shasta Daisy as well. That's the plan anyway as of 07:00 AM this morning. But there is another pretty good chance of rain this morning. But we haven't been sitting around doing nothing. My son got started on doing something with the mess in what we call the garage and I've prepped some lumber to build a small loft. If we can get this done today or tomorrow, it will go a long way towards helping me to get the garden stuff organized, which right now is a helter-skelter mess. I need the storage area for a gardener resource. On a different note, a drive around the area shows that the leaves are starting to turn color and it is looking like it will be a colorful fall this year. The last several years have been somewhat disappointing color wise. Back To The Top Saturday, September 26, 2009 - In true early fall fashion, it started raining this morning when it wasn't predicted until the last minute and very cool with temps @ 0600 a cool 62 degrees F. Yesterday and today was pretty well lost to outdoor activities because momma decided at the last minute to have a yard sale. But, this is fine because it got rid of a lot of stuff that was taking up space. My biggest problem is that I had no advance warning. I have many plants to dig. Many of these have starts and need divided so that there would have been many I could have sold. OH WELL - life goes on. Sunday, September 27, 2009 - A peak at the long-range weather forecast revealed that the next 2 or 3 days are going to be quite warm with highs in the low to mid 80's. But, the nights are predicted to drop down into the 50's and within the next couple of weeks may be dropping down into the 30's. It's that time of year, but we'll see what happens. Some insect friends stopped by today for a visit. A fairly large female Preying Mantis and a large walking stick. They're fun to watch and the youngest granddaughter loves them. I moved the Russian Sage today. After digging the plant, I had many smaller plants. So I chose out about 8 or 10 plants to save to try to sell next spring. Monday, September 26, 2009 - I dug and moved the Purple Coneflower and Shasta Daisy today. In order to do this though, I had to dig out the last 2 mole baskets and a huge amount of tree roots. This finished out the front area of the south-side bed. I'll get the bricks and back-fill finished and then it will be ready for mulching. There is a lot of coneflower and daisy left in the old bed, but rather than cajole folks to come and take it off my hands, I'll "hoike" it to the compost. Besides, the remaining daisy plants were not well behaved and had a bad habit of "flopping". Whereas, the plant I dug was well behaved and pretty much remained upright. If a plant does not behave or perform well in my garden, I'm going to move the problem to someone else's garden. We had more light drizzle this evening amounting to only a trace. But enough to wash off the spray on the plants in the garden. Back To The Top Tuesday, September 29, 2009 - I finished the brick edging around the front section of bed that is now planted. I looks really pretty good and I will get it back-filled tomorrow so it can be mulched the next time we mow. The garlic seed (bulbs to be broken down into cloves) I ordered last spring arrived today. I'm going to plant them where the squash has been growing. But, before I can plant the garlic, I need to get the nursery bed cleaned out and move the Russian Sage plants I temporarily stuck into the open area of the bed. Wednesday, September 30, 2009 - I finished back-filling along the bricks I completed the other day. The area is now ready for mulching. I cleaned out the nursery bed today so I could move the plants I have dug that I want to save. Of the plants growing rampant in the bed, I saved one oregano that smelled and tasted good, one blue flax and several feverfew plants. Everything else was "hoiked" to the compost. I found out why the bed failed and both elderberries and bermuda grass grew up through the bed. Doggone mice have burrowed through the sand from below and chewed up the fabric to make bedding. This allowed everything to grow up through from beneath the bed. With all of the blasted cats roaming around killing the birds and rabbits in the area, I never figured mice to be a problem. This makes me all the more mad about the cats. The city has no desire to control the cats and their attitude is that they will dispose of them if you catch them, however, even with an animal ordinance that includes cats, they, like most cities will do nothing more. Dogs roaming loose are a problem, but cats are much worse. Not only do they tear into trash and get into everything in sight, every time I get a bed ready to plant, I have to deal with "cat-crap" before I can plant. I have set in my back yard and actually watched them catch birds and the family of rabbits we had earlier this year are now gone. For a while, I was finding piles of rabbit fur every now and then. But now the rabbits are gone. I guess I'll need to take "cat-control" into my own hands. We had periods of light drizzle both this morning and afternoon. But it all amounted to less than 1/8 inch total. * * * * * * September is now over and it's been quite month. I've had to implement many garden ideas on a budget this month and set aside others. I recorded many things in my garden history journal this month and at times I got tired of entering every gardening record. But I know all of this effort will help in planning my garden next year. Looking back, I got fall crops planted, but as has been the case all year long, the sprays used to deter the cabbage worms couldn't stay on long enough to work. Next year, I shall approach this differently with a physical covering or I won't raise brassica's at all. I realized that "mole baskets" work well for the purpose intended, but they are a real pain to remove and they're destroyed in the process if they are made out of inexpensive chicken wire. But the weeding is now caught up and some heavy mulching is underway so that I don't go through this again. I've been made to realize again that shade can be a blessing, but to much of it in the wrong places can make it nearly impossible to raise a decent garden. I did get many plants dug and moved. In moving them, I brought everything back into scale and hopefully I can keep it that way. September brought a taste of fall with cooler temperatures, some fog and a lot of showers, which were not always a blessing. Along with this preview of fall, I was made painfully aware of the fact that I'm older now and do not tolerate the cold as well as in years past. Yes, September is over and it's been quite a month around here. But September ended on a bright note that soon I'll be returning to work. This will bring a much improved income and perhaps brighter holidays to come. Perhaps "low budget gardening" will return to more of something I want to do instead of being a necessity. I still love fall the most. But, I must realize that time goes on and with the passing of the years, each of us must change. This applies not only to our physical abilities, but also in the way we approach what we do. Sometimes, we are made to realize that we can no longer do what we've always done. I'm healed up enough to be able to start to asses my future abilities and realize that a great many things will continue to change in the way I do them. I shall endeavor to keep a record of them in my garden journal in the hope that it may help others who face similar challenges. October looks like it will come in with its own challenges and opportunities. I look forward to meeting them and using this backyard journal even more in the future to help me in planning my garden in years to come. Back To The Top the "Hillbilly Gardener" | 
