As Autumn approaches, certain plants in the garden are no longer producing flowers or fruit. I have had to pull out the snap peas, most of the corn, and multiple summer squash plants. The snap peas were starting to die back and by removing them, I allowed more sunlight to reach the leeks and celery. An animal decided that the corn was a great midnight snack and so it tore into and ate quite a few ears of corn. The remaining stalks were sadly laying on the ground so I decided to pull them hoping it would discourage the animal from snooping to other parts of the garden and to allow more sunlight to penetrate the garden. The summer squash plants have recently gotten the blight so removing some of the affected and nonproducing plants lets more air circulate between what's remaining plants.
On another note, I have been making some slow progress on what is going to be an herb garden right next to the grain room. So far, I have just been trying to get a raised bed in place before the frost comes. This may not seem like the most challenging task but it has involved manually pulling up weeds and grass from the roots with hoes and shovels. This has been followed by adventuring down into the fields to small rock piles, with the ATV and trailer, where I gather the flattest rocks I can find. I brought the rocks back up and stack them so a sturdy two to three foot wall was created. So far, I have a corner in place and about eight feet along the wall. I'm really looking forward to completing the raised bed so that come spring, we can fill it with compost and start to plant a variety of herbs whether their purpose is culinary, medicinal, to attract bees, or just to create a pleasant aromatic space in the garden. Although there is still much work to do, I am motivated to make the space into a beautiful area for the Casertas and Inn guests to enjoy for years to come.
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