Fall's Last Hurrah

 After the big wind and rain storms of the last 10 days, most of the trees have dropped their leaves. Now the last of Fall's color is found not by looking up, but by looking down.

A Garden Finish!

This isn't the most attractive picture of my big garden but to me it's a lovely site! Today I finished digging up the last of my 199 dahlia plants and I got all of the "end-of-season" clean-up completed. Yippee! Considering that we had over 3" of rain earlier this week the digging wasn't too bad. It was actually so wet the clay couldn't even clump on my boots. So, now the garden and the gardener rest!

Happy Thanksgiving!

The year has turned its circle,

The seasons come and go.

                              The harvest all is gathered in

And chilly north winds blow.

                        Orchards have shared their treasures,

The fields, their yellow grain,

So open wide the doorway ---

                              Thanksgiving comes again!


                           HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE !

The Last Outdoor Farmer's Market of the Year

Today was the final outdoor Lane County Farmer's Market for 2011. The crowds at the market are much lighter now than even a month ago. It's a shame really because there is still so much amazing produce to take home and I even managed to find some new surprises today too!

How about some fresh Ginger! This beautiful white & pink ginger is so much prettier than the brown nobs that are sold in the grocery store. These bulbs still were attached to their stalks. I had no idea that ginger resembled bamboo so much above the soil line.

And these yellow beauties were quince.

And another exotic fruit - persimmon.

There were a number of stalls offering mushrooms for sale. The selection was amazing.

These cauliflower mushrooms reminded me of sea coral.

And the golden chanterelled just glowed.

Mushrooms

I haven't had the luck this Fall finding and photographing mushrooms like I did last year. I think part of this is due to last year's excessive rainfall starting in Mid-September and really never quitting. And I am sure part of it is due to me just not being in the right place at the right time- with my camera. However, I did manage to find these two interesting groups of mushrooms in the last few weeks. I don't think that I have ever seen the group pictured above. I found them in our "island" area, a grassy, mown triangle up by the house. There were groups of them sprinkled all over the island. This was a newer group and the pronouncement between the white mushroom and its yellow crown was quite clear. As each mushroom aged, its "umbrella" dome opened and the yellow eye faded.

In our front yard area, and in the front flower bed, I found many groups of the mushrooms pictured below. After spending a lot of time looking at my "Mushrooms of the Pacific Northwest" book that Santa Claus brought me last year, I think that I have pretty confidently identified these as "Coprinus Comatus", Shaggy Mane mushrooms. Shaggy Manes are one of the most popular edible mushrooms and fruit mostly in late Summer to Fall in the Pacific Northwest.

Yet Another Frosty Morning

Yet another frosty, cold morning. The thermometer read 27 degrees and everything was coated in a thick blanket of white frost. I particularly admired the braken ferns, their beautiful geometry etched in white.

The Digging Begins

Today I started the annual task of digging up all of my dahlias. I have 199 plants set out in 15 rows.  I began today by cutting down 3 rows. These will be the tubers that I lift next weekend. Then I dug up the 3 rows of dahlias that I cut down earlier this week. I ended up with 42 clumps. I was pleased at the condition of the tubers that I dug today. With our cool, wet Spring & Summer I was really concerned that the tuber growth might have been affected. But he tubers are all full size and seem to be firm, with very little signs of rot at this point. After I got everything dug I hauled them back to the house. I then gentle hosed each clump off and trimmed them of all the misc roots and stocks. Then they went into the shop to await division and further cleaning.

Here are four nice clumps of the Pom "Willo Borealis". It looks like I should definitely have enough tubers to grow and to share next year. In the picture below, you can clearly see the swollen eyes on tubers, right where they join the stock. This makes dividing so much easier.

A Frosty Morning & A Lovely Afternoon

We were below freezing again this morning. For those of us counting, that's three days in a row. Quite unusual for this time of the year. The difference today was that the sun came out early. It quickly warmed up and we had a beautiful day. Our big leaf maples were glowing in the low afternoon sunshine. This is why we love October.

Even Colder Night #2

Last night the official low at the airport was 27 degrees. We had a reading before dawn of 29 degrees at our house. As you can see, the extra three degree drop in the temperature finished off my dahlias. They are a pretty sad looking lot now. The good news is I can proceed now with my digging and dividing without feeling guilty about cutting down blooming dahlia plants! Tonight after work I went down to the garden and cut down my first three rows. It was a quick and easy task. Since we haven't had any rain for over two weeks, the ground is nice and dry. I can't believe that I am chopping down the dahlias and I don't have mud sticking to the bottom of my shoes. The dahlias plants are also really easy to work with right now. The frost has essential "freeze-dried" the plants. They are dry, light and easy to carry off to the burn pile. Clean up has never been this easy - seriously! I'm just not used to these easy working conditions.

Here's two rows after I was done. I left about 4" of stem above the ground on each plant. This gives me a nice handle to hold as I gently lift the tubers and a good place to wrap the name tag around as it is carried home. I will let these tubers rest in the ground until Sunday before I dig them up. This will give the tubers time to be "shocked' that the plants are dead ( or in this case cut off). The tubers will immediately begin to harden off and cure underground. The eyes on the individual tubers will also begin to swell. When I dig the tubers on Sunday it will be much easier to see where I should make my cuts and the tubers should store over winter better as well. I have fifteen rows of dahlias this year. My goal is to dig 3 rows every weekend and then wash, divide and label the tubers from those plants during the following weeknights. Sticking to this schedule I will finish digging on Thanksgiving Weekend. Wish me luck!