Putting the Garden To Bed For Winter

With night time temperatures dropping; the garden is now put to bed for Winter.

Zinnias were deadheaded and "saved" for Spring planting.

The "Love lies bleeding" was also picked.
I so love this unusual, drooping botanical!
They're so old fashioned looking.

The little sink in the potting shed always becomes a storehouse to just picked fruits, vegetables, and oh yeah... saved seed!

The last of Momma's peonies were cut back in the bed, and after cleaning it out; discovered a few strawberry plants that had crawled out of bed and re-rooted themselves elsewhere. Naughty little strawberries- back to bed! They're now tucked back in beneath a little straw and snug as a bug in a rug.

The mums I bought this Fall needed a new home, so they're now planted at the
base of the Bluebird family's mailbox.

Then came the hard part; pulling up all the old tomato vines, and morning glory's. They were clinging to the cattle panel fences with all their might.

Piles were everywhere and then the t posts and cedar poles had to be pulled up.
--As well as all the cattle panels.

The Mule hadn't been fired up for weeks but she started-first pull!
(I love that old tiller) She's been rode hard and put up wet so many times...
and still loves to work. She's as faithful as an 350 Chevy.

Speakin of an olde Chevy; I ended up with quite a load! It felt great though to have it all cleaned up.

Plowing everything under helps so much come Spring! After I finished I trimmed a few onions I found and replanted them. Do you see them? It's amazing how onions don't seem to mind some cold weather.

Next, it was time to till up the cornpatch.
The last two rows I'll admit... I started dreaming of my beloved heating pad. lol

After everything was put away, I started picking the marigold flowers off the plants I'd pulled up. Had to laugh coz I found myself picking two at a time with one hand and it was thee exact same motion as milking a goat. lol Really! --I tried to keep the different types of marigolds all separated. I had yellows, oranges and the ones above that are my most favorite. I call these the barn reds because of those gorgeous red tones mixed in.

It feels so good to save my seeds for the following year.
They're all in pans, jars, and bottles; drying out and waiting!!!

I almost forgot to do a walk around and picked up flower pots. Usually I can just toss out the live plants in a compost heap and go on but this year it was harder than usual! Even a pot of geraniums found it's way inside the house. --Don't know what I'll do with all the plants that came in because we don't have enough windows to keep them all happy. Maybe it's time to invest in some shelves and grow lights.

So the soil is turned. And the garden is down for a long Winter's nap.
Seed catalogs have started coming already and it's time to dream.

Sweet dreams dear garden.
See you in Spring.

Holykisses xoxo