Fall: Cleaning and Planning

Fall brings overnight frost, which marks the end of the gardening season. As most vegetables are annuals, it is time to clean up the garden and start preparations for next year. I made good use of my new tractor this year. As I took tomato cages out of the ground, I put them in the cart that I had behind the tractor for easy transport back to the garage. Then, I went over the remaining plants with the mower to chop them up before getting the tiller out. That made it much easier to till everything under. There were no long vines to wrap around the tines of the tiller. One pass with the tiller is all it took.

I also took some time to look around the rest of the yard. Some of the fruit trees will need some pruning early next year. I also need to build trellises for the raspberries. I have some space in the raspberry row for a few more raspberry plants, or maybe some blackberries.

I don't have room for any more fruit trees (at least not without taking the elm tree out). I will be adding one more blueberry bush next spring. I also have a place for another row of small bushes, but it is somewhat shaded by the neighbor's maple trees.

I've done some searching, and it seems that plants in the Ribes genus will tolerate some shade, and may actually prefer it in some cases. This genus includes gooseberries and currants. The hardy kiwi appears to tolerate shade as well, but I think I may stick with the gooseberries and currants. I should have enough room to plant several different varieties. I planted one gooseberry this spring, and it has done very well. The rabbits don't seem to bother it. I assume they don't like the thorns. (I think I could use a few more plants with built-in defenses like that!)

I haven't decided on any particular varieties yet. If anyone has any favorites of either currants (any color) or gooseberries, feel free to mention them in the comments. :)