Coasting into the Fall

Do you know the feeling you have when everything major is accomplished for a while and you have nothing pressing that needs accomplished? You may still have chores and tasks that need done but it’s more maintenance than giant projects that constantly beckon for your attention. After hosting our garden club meeting where I lectured about building an arbor and propagating plants via cuttings I’m experiencing that downhill feeling into fall. There are still projects I’ve started that I want to finish before I can truly sit back and enjoy everything but for a few days or a maybe even couple weeks I can relax. It’s hot here in Tennessee and a nice glass of ice tea flavored with mint is just the thing to bring with me into the garden!

It’s been an interesting ride so far this year since March. Maybe even earlier if you consider the vegetable garden remodel project. Once things started going they never stopped. Like a roller coaster where the operator forgot someone was still on board. The Better Homes and Gardens Challenge kept us busy planning, purchasing, building and blogging about it all in April and May. Two newspapers and several radio show appearances came soon after the arbor project as did some volunteer work on a garden for a food pantry. The kitchen pantry garden is where I need to devote some time now, volunteers have been slow to come but the garden is growing well.  I haven’t been out there as much as I had hoped to be when we offered to help with the project.  Then came an extremely wet summer where it was hard to get out into the garden to do anything other than mow on the one day the grass was dry.  Of course all that rain means I still have green grass which is a plus! Usually it has gone dormant by July.

Then came the garden club meeting preparation. We pulled enough weeds to fill the compost bin and then some. It’s a good idea to let the weeds sit in the sun to die before adding them to the bin. Also don’t put any seed heads in there as you might get some unexpected (and unwelcome) surprises later. Mowing, weed eating, mulching, and weeding all were accomplished in time with a little help. Eventhough everything went great on Saturday and I had a good time talking to like-minded folks about cuttings I’m glad that the meeting is past. Having twenty or so people in and around your house can make you nervous. You wonder what they are thinking, I just hope they enjoyed seeing the garden!

So now, for a short time, I’m breaking from major projects. Or at least working part of them since my brain never really shuts off. I have several ideas and projects to come in the fall. Finishing up my potting bench is the next thing on the agenda.  My garden fence is one project that I hope to tackle when the weather is cooler but I’m still on the fence about which kind of fence to choose. I’d also like to finish our patio project from last summer by adding a short sidewalk to the garage side door and lately I’ve been researching plans and designs for building a shed sometime down the road. Sometimes I wish I had an off switch for my mind (football season is almost here so that will have to do!) For now though a short break is in order. Weeding, watering, picking vegetables, fall vegetable garden planting and sipping a cool glass of mint tea are the only things on my agenda for now. And that’s quite enough!