Do you have a fall outdoor chore list?
I live on almost four acres and mine is long. But, the chore list and a MG project have put some strain on my back. I’ve had to back off a bit this week, but I’m working my way back to my normal obnoxious gardening self.
For those who don’t live in ‘snow country,’ New Englanders hunker down for the winter and outdoor equipment has to be put under cover.
Large attractive containers dripping with annuals are certainly enjoyable in the summer, but fall arrives and the plants and soil need to be removed and containers stored for the winter. Spring perennials also need to be divided.
Plants that couldn’t be planted in the heat and humidity but were sunk in the ground to keep them viable are now awaiting permanent homes. Geez, who knew they’d add up to so many, and who put them there anyway? 🙂
Then there are those large beds of perennials that need to be deadheaded. I know people have varying thoughts about deadheading in the fall, but here in NH most of our plants are buried under 5-7′ of snow for months at a time. I’d much rather do the work in the fall than try to trim back plants laying on the ground and wet from snow.
And, bring out the fences that need to be installed and
the Milorganite that needs to be spread to deter the deer who arrive looking for snacks. This guy came out of the woodlands last week already kicking up his heels at the idea of the potential buffet.
Good thing I’m sitting in the recliner with ice on my back while I write this. 🙂
Since we’re talking plants today, let me 
introduce you to Elysia.
Check out Talking Hydroponics. Is this cool or what?
Happy second week in September. Hope you’re on top of your chores and not the other way around. 🍁
That Elysia is both pretty and interesting….from here. I’d be more than a little scared to come face to face with it under water!! Lol. Like you, I would rather go the extra mile now than clean up mushy plants in the spring. Ugh. And you could fit several of my yards in yours!!
🔹 Ginger 🔹
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Isn’t she interesting, but there is that face to face underwater to think about. 🙂 I love the space until fall – chores and leaves, chores and leaves. 🙂
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Hope your back feels better sooner than later. My approach toward chores is radically different than yours. I look for chores to get out of. Hmmmm, I think today, I will hide in the woods. 🙂
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I like your approach, and sincerely enjoyed the chuckle. Just don’t get too close to the mosquitos. 🙂
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“…and who put them there anyway?” You’re a hoot! Take good care of your back.
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I have to maintain a sense of humor. 🙂
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I hope you recover quickly and get back at it, Judy. I’ve always admired beautiful gardens up here because I know how hard you guys work at them. We don’t have much at all in the way.
I have to postpone the normal chores until the construction is complete (or complete enough). I’m hoping for a long fall.
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I certainly hope you get all your siding on and everything buckled up nice and tight before we get any remotely bad weather. 🙂
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Thanks Judy. It will be a mini-race against the calendar.
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Gosh, gardening and back aches tend to go together, don’t they? Though those are backaches that you at least got for doing something you love! That’s quite the picture at the end of the post.
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Isn’t that the mostly interesting little ‘plant/animal.’ 🙂
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You wear me out! I feel very lucky that we don’t have to prepare for bitter cold or snow. Our succulents are happy year-round. I did hear a climatologist on the radio say that we (California) may be in for an El Nino this winter which could mean much-needed rain. Elysia is adorable… she looks like a little green lamb. I hope your back feels better soon!
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It really is a job to get everything put away so there are clear paths for the snow moving equipment. You really don’t want to be hand shoveling any more than you have to. 🙂 Well, if you get rain I hope it is welcome and doesn’t cause any problems where any of the fires have been this year.
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I leave cutting back until spring, even though everything is often smushed to earth. Glad to see you enjoying some Tithonia!
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I was hoping you’d see that photo. I took it at McKenzie’s Farm on Saturday when we were there buying veggies and fruit. I was so excited to see it, my husband thought I was crazier than normal. I always admire yours, and my one try at seeds was unsuccessful. I’m really going to have to try again next year. If only they sold plants here. 🙂
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Just reading your to do list make me feel tired. I hope your back is better soon.
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Reading your lists of autumn chores always reminds me that beautiful autumn parts of the country like yours come with a cost… as you say, leaves and chores! Good luck with it all & hope your back feels better soon.
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Thanks. 🙂 It always makes me chuckle when all the busloads of leaf peepers descend on the state. They ooh and aah over the colors, and all I can think about is that those beautiful red, yellow and orange leaves are going to fall to the ground and need to be moved. 🙂
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I admire your energy, Judy. I try to keep on top of chores, but it seems the list gains more than I scratch off. I got several cartloads cut back and dumped in the compost pile, but I still want to get the echinacea cut back before too many seeds fall to sprout in spring. I’m looking forward to having a rain day tomorrow! 😉
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Yes, I’m enjoying the rainy day too. 🙂 I moved my echinacea last year and they didn’t come back well. I may actually have to purchase some new plants.
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Good excuse to try some of those nifty new hybrids. 🙂
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4 acres! Holy cow..is there enough ice in New Hampshire? I’m going to clean out the deadheads etc this month. Hate having all that to do in spring when I’m wanting to plant new.
Mosquitoes in Michigan are horrid now and cases of West Nile and Equine encephalitis are being reported. Don’t get too feisty too soon, keep the ice and rest. Let those muscles have some time off.
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I know – spring is for planting, fall is for clean up. 🙂 The vast array of bugs out there willing to put us out of commission seems to be never ending. Pretty soon we’ll all be wearing bee keeper outfits. I wish I was kidding. Good to hear from you. 🙂
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I am terrifyingly underneath everything.
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I understand, really I do. 🙂
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We do not have a list at work. We do try to prioritize. Because our autumn is milder, timing is not so critical. Much of what we do can be delayed until winter. We may want to start to move what needs to be moved, only because there is so much.
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I like your approach better than mine. 🙂
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Hope you are feeling better soon!
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Thank you. I’m using an ice pack right now. 🙂
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Your poor back! I’m glad you are treating it kindly because with that kind of to-do list you are going to need it! I can only shake my head at how much you do. It’s incredible. Thanks for the link to “Talking Hydroponics” — I was especially interested in the observations about GMOs. And, since I’m part slug myself, I was particularly interested in Elysia. I hope your back is much better today!
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🙂 Elysia was certainly an interesting post. I’ve never seen anything like that and the idea that she uses solar power is amazing. Yes, trying to be smart as I work on that list. Raining here today so a day off. 🙂
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chores, chores, chores, then a long winter nap. right, Judy?! Yes, the fall chores do add up and with winter as a not so distant reminder, we feel the push.
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I would never ever complain about chores to you. Your list would make mine look like a post it note. 🙂
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And this is exactly the reason I never seem to get around to planting bulbs! There’s so much to do in the fall, and we live on a way smaller plot of land than you do! It seems like every leaf in the North Country ends up on our lawn . . . I do hope you’re going slow–don’t make that back problem any worse!
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Bulbs are on my to-do list as well. I hope I get to them. 🙂 One neighbor has a decorator fence with two openings onto a perennial bed of mine. I swear every fall and spring that at least half of the leaves in her yard wind up in that bed for me to remove. Last year, I put up a green plastic fence in the openings which kept them in her yard. YES..
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I love Elysia! She’d be cute in a little aquarium with all the sunlight she needed! We’d just sit together for hours on end and enjoy life!
My fall gardening chore list includes one item: “Honey, the frost killed the window box impatiens, can you pull those ugly dead stems out of there?”
Thank you for your sweet Insty comment on my last post. I just wrote a long one on Lisa’s blog which disappeared after I clicked “submit” before telling me I needed to log in to Squarespace….??? WTH? So yes, I share your frustration and don’t blame you for giving up!
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Wish we lived closer and I could bake something and brew some good coffee and maybe your ‘honey’ would come chat and pull some of the dead stems out here. But, I have a feeling he only does it for one person. 🙂 I don’t get why the various platforms try to squeeze out the others. Well, yes, I really do – money. But, here we are trying to support our friends, and they make it difficult if not impossible to do that. I wonder if they know there is an entire group of us who don’t even know what Squarespace is. This morning I’m having WordPress issues when I try to ‘like’ or ‘comment’ on another blog. Geez, it shouldn’t have to be this difficult.
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Amen to everything you said! Blogger is a bully!
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Your flowers, and yard visitor are lovely! Although the visitor eating your plants isn’t. Elysia is so cute, and amazing. I’ve been leery of GMO’s so stay away from them, so found what she said about them very interesting.
I hope your back feels better soon!
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I avoid GMO’s myself but thought that article was pretty intriguing. I’d never seen anything like that.
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I hadn’t read anything like that either. It’s eyeopening and reassuring that I’m doing the right thing by not buying those products.
Genetech is within passing distance of a lot of my photographic routes, and you can ask any one of the friends I shoot with…I always say there’s some freaky shit going on there, and I want to speed past it so we don’t get caught in some kind of Twilight Zone real life nightmare! GMO’s are in that category for me.
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Pity about your owie. I hope the recliner restores you soon! 🙂
I’d never dream of telling you what to do with your garden, but I’m a let-it-be’er. I used to do how you do, cause that’s how my mother did, but I find I’m more eager to work it in spring. (It’s that I hate to be hot thing, plus, rarely more than a few feet of snow.)
We’re supposed to have a wet weekend, and if that is the case, I will be out planting more bulbs and maybe even a tree 🙂
I don’t have too many things to do, because I didn’t do nearly as much this year!
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Ugh. The thought of all those fall chores depresses me, but now that I take a good look outside, yes, there are things I should be doing today 😕 When it comes to doing yard work, I’m grateful I don’t have 4 acres 😉
Hope your back recovers quickly. There is still so much to do before the cold sets in!!
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Hope that back feels better soon. For the past two years, I have not cut back my plants in the fall, and clean up in the spring really isn’t that much worse than it was when I did. Give it a try with one bed?
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I’ve been working my way around from bed to bed working 2-3 hours a day. I’m getting there, but I added to the time because I’ve been cutting bushes back as well. Not sure that was a good idea, but I know I’ll be happier in the spring. 🙂
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Very cool Judy, love that! As for gardening, your description is exactly why I leave it to those more talented and more energetic than I am!
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I have big list to do in my garden and the winter is almost here!Althought I´m hoping to get lot of snow, it protects my plants from freezing winter.
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We normally get 5-7 feet of snow which piles up and keeps everything covered. Thanks for stopping. 🙂
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Normal year everything covers realaly nicely but now days you can never tell what the winter will be like. Sometimes the snow doesnt come untill January and by then everything is frozen really deep. Normally the snow will come on November.
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