Hi Dennis! Finally the leaves are off the peach, but the white nectarine and apples still have leaves as does one plum. It is now December and we still have 50-60 degree days. It is dark here by 4:30pm. I miss the sunlight so much. My leaves have been raked under the trees, mulch as been back for quite a while. I cannot wait for February to try my new Felco loppers! I have many, many buds on the peach tree for next year. The peach and nectarine seem to grow the fastest. I will take pictures in the spring. I am starting to organize my spray schedule for spring, as it seems so complicated. My peach is now ready for winter, but I am not! Mrs. G

Thanks hosta gardeners. From your suggestions, and my own ideas, I have compiled a to do list. Winter prep for hosta gardens 1. Take pictures of hosta gardens for reference and winter planning. 2. Cut back hosta to about 6-8 inches. Leaving that much to catch leaves and snow to act as a winter mulch. Otherwise, I don�t give winter protection to my hosta. 3. Mark hosta crowns with stakes. My husband, I notice, has a pile of wooden garden stakes he made, probably from scrap. I am going to use them this year as my plant labels aren�t ready, (winter project?) 2. Store container hosta for winter. Some I will sink into my vegetable patch as I did last two winters, and some I will use the hosta forum tip method (I decided to name it such without permission and apologize to any forum members who disagree): store sideways and the north side of my house under the eaves so they will stay frozen and dry all winter. 3. Take notes. From what needs to be moved next spring to where I think I could squeeze in a few more hosta. Also which annuals worked best as hosta companions. Many of my hosta are still immature and I like to fill with annuals and groundcovers. 4. Water thouroughly one last time. It has been dry and windy here and the soil doesn�t freeze until late November or December. We have had it better than some, but have had to water. If it doesn�t rain this week, I will water one last time. After October 15th, no more. 5. Make a large pot of chili, buy some Spanish red wine, make a fire and enjoy the last of the garden,. Happy October Beverly (Sorry, this got rather long winded.)

This was my first year with SFG and I found I had to use some blood meal for nitrogen. My mixed compost was more leaf and mushroom than cow manure. So I am putting 'composted' cow manure from the store on top of my gardens to further decompose during the winter, so it will be ready to work in next spring. I harvested some lettuce this week.

I've been working towards Fall for weeks now. It's too big a job to put it all off to the last minute. Tomato plants have been coming out as they deteriorate. They go to the landfill. Pepper plants this year didn't produce...too wet?...so they've been pulled too except for the one huge Asian pepper plant. Watermelon vines (essentially dead now) need to find their way to the trash. Isn't it true that they shouldn't be composted? I'm still picking green beans (2nd planting) and I've been getting potatoes from my Fall crop for several weeks. In the middle of my vegetable garden I have about 35 amaryllis bulbs. I have started the process of digging them for winter storage. Quite a process for me partially because I keep a label with each individual bulb to document bloom history and color. They get dug, dried in the shed for a few weeks, and then cut off the (drying) leaves and pack for storage in the basement. Each time I move the bulb, the label has to move with it. Once the beans give up or we get a frost (whichever comes first) I'll dig the potatoes, pull the beans, and whatever else is still in the garden and break out the rototiller. For the first time ever, I think I'll plant a cover crop. Bought some annual rye grass seed for this purpose. Anything to watch out for when doing this?