NOW THEY’RE SAYING NOT JUST THE F WORD BUT THE S WORD, TOO: snow. It finally frosted here last night, but don’t we get a moment to adjust to that before you-know-what begins? Last year the first snowfall came October 28, as I noted then; this year the Almighty NOAA (the national weather guru) says snow the end of this week. That’s proof positive of their predictions above. I’m saying merely this: Where are my mittens? You?
THE LECTURE that he’s been giving for a number of years is not-so-subtly called “Kill Your Lawn.” Ecological horticulturist Dan Jaffe Wilder knows that starting over and creating an entire native habitat instead of a lawn isn’t for everyone. But Dan just wants to grab our attention and get us to start to make some changes at least in the way we care for the turfgrass we do want in our landscapes. And maybe give up a little square footage of it to some other kind of more diverse planting, too, like the wild strawberries (Fragaria virginiana, inset). Alternative, more eco-focused styles of lawn care, along with some lawn alternatives is what he and I talked about on the podcast. Dan is Director of Applied Ecology at Norcross Wildlife Foundation in Wales, Massachusetts, and its 8,000-acre sanctuary. He’s also co-author with Mark Richardson of the book “Native Plants for New England Gardens.”
(Stream it below, read the illustrated transcript or subscribe free.)
Sigh…. seems I’m never quite ready to admit the gardening season is over and winter is around the corner. Hard frost in CT last night — 33 degrees when I left the house this morning. Gathered a big bunch of basil yesterday and placed it in the kitchen for ‘aroma therapy.’
I am amazed. Frost, snow. wow. I just wish it would quit raining so I could plant some seeds. Why, why doesn’t the weather cooperate for us. ;(
It is snowing rather hard here in Minneapolis at the moment. The forecast is calling for several inches. I cut my rose yesterday – on four canes I had twenty five blooms and countless buds. The rest of it is getting snowed on today. We’ve got pictures up that Pete took over the weekend of snow on everything in the garden. Come take a peek.
SIGH…Here in Florida, we are STILL having to use our air conditioners. SIGH !
It’s TOOOOOOO HOT for October !
We will never say the gardening season is over…it just moves inside and every window available. Then we also garden on canvas…painting our dream gardens while our own takes a winter nap.
We had our first snow of the season here in Nebraska over the weekend. A good 6 inches at my house — other areas had up to 14 inches! sigh
Hail yesterday. 19 degrees F. last night.
Sigh. When do seed catalogues arrive?
Frost? Snow? I haven’t even begun my veg garden clean-up!
snow and frost saturday. righ ton time for iowa city, though the last few years we have been late…and so i still have bulbs to put in, black leaves to pick up, pumpkins not really orange enough.
oops, right on time…
No snow or frost here in VA but it is darn cold and I have way too many green tomatos!!! And certainly not enough window sills for all the herbs I want to bring in…
What’s snow?
Well, after reading this list of comments I feel lucky. Snow, hail, 19 degrees…yikes. Here we go!
Welcome, Kris. Our weekly Thursday columnist, doodler Andre Jordan, is in Nebraska, too, but hadn’t mentioned the S word yet. Wow.
Welcome, Karen. My vegetable garden is halfway there, but we have weeks more work to do so I guess we had both better hightail it this week or else. :)
Welcome, Vicki. Windowsills? None left here, either. What a packed house I have in the best-light spots. I hear you.
Hope to see you all soon again.
It’s been cold and snowy for several days, I went to a Harvestival at a local CSA on Sat. Otis Taylor and David Grisman were two of the musical acts and they said they’d never played in colder weather–flippin’ 15F for an outdoor event!!
Ugh, Margaret, I’m not ready for cold weather.
We had a hard frost a couple of weeks ago — bye bye basil! “Rebounded” a bit to the mid-50s, but it’s still about 10 degrees colder than average. So far nothing white in the air… Where oh where did summer go?
Re: Amy’s comment about basil and aromatherapy — I went outside last night, heeding the frost warning, to gather up the last of the basil here in my Pittsburgh garden… brought it in, stuck it in a vase full of water… the scent was intoxicating, almost better than on a hot August afternoon…
Just returned from California, where I had some amazing food and wine. I also am in awe of the farmers market in S.F. Now I am back in Boston and wondering if the frost has hit my Maine garden! Reading your post leaves me very grateful I took the time to collect all those large green toms, and harvest all my herbs! Now I’m glad I made pesto w the last of the basil!