Fall planting!

Getting the fall garden ready...I can't believe how many weeds took over this summer - more weeds than veggies, really. We did get a few really beautiful butternut squash, one I am saving for Thanksgiving. And of course, through mid July we had a little zucchini...but August? I think I just let everything get taken over - and now I am paying for it! The worst is the long, strong grasses that send runner even under the heavy path mulch layers. There is not a good way other than just pure muscle to get it out...I am digging out the paths and building up the beds a bit, and we have LOTS of lovely compost! Thank you bunny...

So this week, putting in garlic, greens, and maybe a small bed of asparagus crowns...pictures will come soon!


In other High Meadows and Charlottesville news... The first Fluvanna County Wine Festival is coming up - I can't wait to taste the wines from our friends at Thistle Gate!

Pippin Hill continues to be a favourite place to visit - most guests don't want to leave! The wide porches, the beautiful views - and of course the wine and food - I didn't want the day to end when I was up there last time either!

So - life continues on with all of it's beauty, here and everywhere...see you soon!

Wow...I returned from a nice little vacation in Florida to...snow still on the ground! I know that spring is around the corner, there are little bulb sprouts all over the place, trying to get above the melting slush - at least they will have enough water this spring. I was looking at the forsythia on the way home, hoping for a few fat branches - nothing there yet, but SURELY we are just a mere couple of weeks away!

I can't wait to get into the veggie garden - last year, it didn't get near the attention I should have given it, and this year my garden-loving sister is here working with us, so I KNOW I won't have any excuses. :) The blackberry mother plant is huge, and we planted loads of babies along the picket fence last fall - maybe enough for cobbler this summer? Definitely some heirloom tomatoes (my children still talk about the little sweet yellow ones they ate like candy last summer), basil, green beans, okra, peppers, onions, squash, pumpkins, spring greens - time to get out the seed catalogs. And also - we are replanting a couple of perennial beds near the gazebo - loading them with herbs - I am always needing something in the kitchen.

As soon as the slush is gone and we can get out there, hopefully by early March, I will turn the compost in the soil and lay the pathways...I can't wait!