As the days grow shorter in sunlight each day and cool a few degrees I know that some of my plants need a little help adjusting to the cold weather that is coming.
photo credit: mcthebest

• By adding a simple clear plastic milk jug to a cold frame you can expand your growing season by a month.
• I have several cold frames I put out in the fall and winter months for cool weather crops such as lettuce but I also use cold frames to protect perennials that I have transplanted that need another month to develop a larger root system.
• If you have a cold frame line the bottom of the frame with black plastic. One the sides you use milk jugs filled with water. These milk jugs draw heat from the sun during the day and will help keep a cold frame 5 to 7 degrees warmer at night. You can also throw a blanket over the top of the cold frame at night to help keep in more heat.
• If you don’t have a cold frame, an old window frame will work with an old window placed on top. Hay bales also make great cold frames and have extra thick walls to keep in more heat. All you need to be able to do is keep cold winds and snow away from your plants.

Just remember the milk jug. It’s amazing how much heat you will add to your cold frame with this simple jug.

Technorati Tags: gardening tips. milk jugs

There’s something about fall that makes it one of my favorite times of the year.
photo credit: wsilver

It’s amazing how the look of the land changes when the leaves fall and the grasses die back. I walk one dirt road in NW PA almost daily and watch the seasons work its magic on the scenery. It’s like a new painting on canvas every day.

With the leaves falling the last few days the view has changed so much I have trouble placing my location on the winding scenic road. I have more of a view of the creek all the small streams that feed into the Conewango. This evening I watched 14 turkeys cross the road. My companion, Nikia, a big white Husky, enjoyed the parade as much as I did.
photo credit: SFB579

After a four-mile walk, enjoying the scenery and the sound of crunching leaves under my feet, it’s time to return home and collect apples for making cider.

It’s been several years since I made cider. We have many apple trees on the property so cider pressing has been a tradition for many years. I try to mix the apple varieties in a manner that makes a good cider. That’s usually two thirds red apples to one-third yellow or green apples. And if you’re lucky to have pears you can add a half bushel to bushel of those. Pears add a sweetness that emphasizes the apples taste.

I press my cider at an Amish cider press and that always makes for a fun day. A battery instead of electricity operates their cider press. Homemade jelly, fresh bread and pies are often for sale in the office areas and as many puppy and small children are running around the yard.

I collected ten bushels of apples for my cider this time. That’s should make 30 or more gallons. I will sell some and use the rest. Hopefully I will make another cider batch for Halloween.
photo credit: waferboard

Technorati Tags: apple cider, country living, fall in Northwest pa

The Gardener’s Rake tip for the week is preparing your garden for winter.
photo credit: MShades

At the end of the gardening season, and in NW Pa we have reached this time of the year, where it’s wise to prepare your garden for winter.

You can walk away from the garden without preparing it for winter and the spring season but preparing it now will improve your soil and it’s almost ready to plant in the spring.

• Remove all dead plants and debris.
• If possible till the garden or turn the soil.
• Add any nutrients like leaves, compost, or manure. Turn the soil again.
• I cover the soil with straw, leaves or compost to protect the soil from the cold and to control weeds.
• In the spring I remove it and plant my early peas and onions. In the rest of the garden I will work it into the ground.

By cleaning and preparing the garden you are ready to plant earlier, you have removed any diseased plants and places for bugs to hide and your garden is ready to use.

It makes gardening in the spring easier and healthier for your plants. It also makes starting the spring garden easier

Technorati Tags: gardening tips, preparing your garden