Winterizing

Winter caught us a little off guard this year! Those are my brussel sprouts. The brussel sprouts I spent months carefully tending, picking off all of those nasty caterpillars so we could enjoy some nice fresh ones for Thanksgiving dinner... Yeah, they are in the compost pile now with not a single sprout to show for it. So sad! I'll try again next year, and hope to get them in the ground sooner, and be more vigilant about the cabbage moths.

Anyway, now that the snow has melted and we have had a couple of unseasonably warm days, it's time to do what we should have already done - winterize the house! Here's our list:

- Put up the fans and window unit ACs and bring out the humidifiers
- Put the outdoor cover on the one permanent window AC
- Dump the contents of all outdoor potted plants in the compost bin
- Completely clean out the garden, till the soil, and bring in the stakes and tomato cages
- Most years we collect bags of leaves from the neighbors and till these directly into the soil, though we are skipping that this year
- Divide perennials that need it, and otherwise tidy up the flower/herb garden
- Spread the mulch in the front that has been sitting out for several months :P
- Bring in extraneous yard stuff - garden hose, buckets, outdoor toys, etc...
- Give the car a thorough washing and waxing
- Rake leaves and fill up the compost bin
- Turn the compost before it freezes
- Set out the bird feeders and fill with seed
- Bring in the grill and outdoor furniture

Did I miss something?



If you haven't build a compost bin, this is a nice time of year to do it. Collect the bags of leaves your neighbors set by the curb for some wonderfully rich compost. Preacher Man built our side-by-side bins out of pallets. He bolted three together and used a fourth leaning against the front as a door. We have one for current use and one with the previous year's compost to let it age really well before being used in the garden. The system is working really well!

It's been lovely spending a long couple of days outdoors in the sunshine. I know these days are numbered, so I'm determined to soak up the sun while it lasts!

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