A Frantic Race against the Weather and the Calendar

We’re supposed to have a few days of torrential rains later this week, and I’ll be gone for a week in early October, so yesterday at lunch, I made a list of all the things that still need to get done before putting the gardens to bed for the season. Build the new compost bin, move the raised beds, plant the 20 or so things still in pots, dig the peony out of Barb’s yard and put it in one of the gardens here, compost the languishing tomatoes, bring out the suet feeders. Oh, and Elmer still has to move inside.

On the way home, I realized I wasn’t going to get it all done. I had to pick the most important things and leave the rest. I chose to move the raised beds. That would free up the space for the compost bin, which I could build in the garage in the rain and move outside later. I could use the raised beds in their new location for heeling in the plants that need homes. (I’d probably move them in the Spring anyhow.)

Last week, I measured the spot I thought would work for the raised beds, and it was a bit too small. Oddly, when I dug out the frames last night and carried them to the spot, they seemed to fit with plenty of space! Tomorrow, I’ll have to move the sedum and Elmer’s patio and then I can move the soil from the old location and plop in the plants in pots and sit back and wait for the rain.