Early October: Frost, freeze and yard update

Most of us escaped the frost predicted for this week, but it is coming, along with the first freeze. Vast lists of pre-frost and post-freeze jobs await, with dry weather giving us the time to get things done. The pre-frost chores revolve around tender herbaceous plants that will not tolerate cold temperatures. All houseplants that summered outside should be in now. Other plants that were living outside but you want to overwinter should also be in. Amaryllis recharge their bulbs in the garden during the summer but are now potted up and beginning their rest inside. Their leaves will die and dry out and be removed, the soil will be allowed to dry out; since they are not growing they do not need a place with light, since the pots are heavy they go on bottom shelves. One rosemary plant was pruned then potted and brought inside in hopes it will survive the winter. Tender herbs like basil and parsley have leaves harvested and dried. Sprigs of basil are put in a vase on the kitchen windowsill and will supply fresh leaves for a few months. Other herbs like lemon verbena, tarragon, stevia, and anise hyssop are treated as annuals and have leaves harvested. Tomatoes harvested green are turning red. Second zucchini (planted the beginning of August) is flowering and a few squash have been harvested, it will not survive cold temperatures. A supply of rhubarb needs to be harvested before the freeze. Stalks will be washed and cut into pieces, blanched in the microwave for a minute, cooled, then frozen. Fall flowers may tolerate a light frost but probably not a hard freeze. Dahlias and zinnias are a lovely bouquet. Dried zinnia heads are put in a paper bag, labeled with name and date and saved for next year. Perennial chrysanthemums and Montauk daisies are about to bloom in my yard, hope they make it. Bringing flowers into the house, even marigolds, brightens the spirit. While out walking notice the occasional magnolia flower and lilac blooming. Harvested sweet potatoes, they were part of an experiment this year where two vining crops, sweet potatoes below ground and butternut squash above ground, were planted together away from the garden so they could vine unmolested. It was interesting, the squash started out strong, then had to be covered with mesh since the deer were reaching over the fence to eat their leaves. The squash produced were small, looked like small ornamental gourds. By the end of the summer the sweet potato vines covered everything and a nice crop was produced. Next year, sweet potatoes alone, squash alone and growing somewhere else. Other (minor) yard chores can be done as time permits, chores such as draining and putting away hoses, inverting bird baths so they don't freeze and break, cleaning and restocking bird feeders. The big jobs, raking and removing unwanted plants, gutters, can wait a bit. Try to pick one fun project to do among all the others. Harvesting the sweet potatoes was fun since the outcome was unknown, the next fun project will be harvest gourds. Susan Carty is professor emerita at Heidelberg University.