Fall is here and Winter is approaching

I hate these furry little creatures!! They are a nuisance to me, my dogs and the neighbor!!! Here is one of the probably 5-6 that we have in the neighbor. They run across the power lines and think it is great fun to occasionally stop in the middle of the line, turn and bark at the dogs!!! This in turn makes my dogs GO CRAZY!! Thankfully none of them have ever fallen off the the power lines, because I don't think it would be a probably sight.
Here are a few pictures of trees around the neighbor. I think fall colors are so beautiful and will miss all of them when Winter takes over.

I think that Fall and Spring are my favorite seasons for sure, but summer has its perks and I spend winter planning and dreaming of my garden by the fire with family and the best dogs in the world. This holiday season and next will be the best yet. This year for the first time in 4 years we will all be together and next year we will have Baby Aiden to celebrate with. I can't wait. People have said to Anthony and I, that the best years are yet to come and I think they are so right!

Herbs for the Winter

So as we pack and get ready to leave next week for Seattle, we are debating on what herbs to move and what herbs to go ahead pick to death. I have 3 containers of Oregano, 2 containers of Thyme, 1 lone Parsley Plant, and some Tarragon. My Blueberry plants and Japanese Maple Tree have started to go dorminent so I will put some fresh compost and hay in their pots and they will be ready for transport. This will be the third time I have taken these plants with me to a new house.
This is the best grass in the world.....Lemongrass! Anthony and I call this our love plant!!! As Anthony asked me to marry him at a restaurant called 'Lemongrass.' This plant is definitely going!
Here is my Rosemary, Sage and the original Lemongrass Plant. All these are going for sure. All the pots need to be fertilized badly but I think I will wait until we get to Washington as all the pots will be spending 3 days in a dark cold moving truck.

Some of these herbs I have will be 3 years old this fall. I am very proud to say that I started the Sage, Oregano and Thyme all from seed. I will be trying to start cuttings from these Rosemary plants in the spring. Any hints on doing this would be helpful.

Sad and Sleepy Garden

This bed once held peas, broccoli, beets, radishes, spinach and green beans. Now all that's left is some bolted cabbage. After I took this picture Anthony took down the 'keep out' dog fence. Next year we will have 'keep out' chicken fence. This is the bed that was full of tomatoes! Its back to being empty. Our neighbor walked by and commented on how bare our yard looks now. Its so true, very bare and boring.

Along with the bolted cabbages, all I truly have left is the brussel sprouts!! I think next year I will use stakes to help them grow straight and tall. Oh how I love brussel sprouts. Anthony and I will be sure to pick all the little sprouts off before we leave next week for good. I will be sad to leave this place as it has taught me so much about gardening. Although I don't know if I could look at these bare beds all winter, I might go crazy!

One lesson I learned for sure happened in this bed......grass is more stubborn than I will ever be!!! In the spring, we rototilled all the grass under and covered this bed with black tarp, however as you can see the grass has come back stronger and better than in the spring. It would have taken a serious undertaking to kill off this grass, hopefully the next renter will be more successful.

So as this gardening year comes to an end, I have already started planning and thinking about next years. Next year I will be sharing a garden with my parents, which will be a lot of fun! My step dad will be so happy as I will be able start most everything from seed. I will be using grow lights this coming year though which will be a new experience for everyone. Can't wait!!!!

23 weeks!!

Its hard to believe that in roughly 17 weeks Anthony and I will be parents!!! Yikes, scary yet VERY EXCITING.

We are having a boy and his name is going to be Aiden Paul Cantor. Anthony was sure it was a boy all along and Baby Aiden proved him to be right. Right now Baby Aiden spends most of his day rolling around and kicking me. Sometimes he kicks or elbows me so hard that my tummy bounce, which makes me laugh and then he does it more. I quess he thinks he is a comedian. The other thing that is crazy is that when Anthony talks and kisses my belly, Baby Aiden goes CRAZY!

For now this is how we enjoy our baby, but we can't wait to enjoy him when he gets here!

Tropical Citrus Trees

So a while back I found these trees at Lowes for $1!!! What a deal!! When I bought these little trees they were about a quarter the size they are now. I am soooo proud of these little trees, since I know ZERO about growing trees especially tropical Citrus Trees. Growing up in Washington we don't have such things that are TROPICAL TREES! There is nothing tropical about that state. So thinking that we were going to be in St. Louis for quite sometime I bought these little guys. Now we are moving to Washington and my poor little trees will be making the trek too, so we will see how they do.

Thankfully my parents have a great gardener friend that is going to let me put them in his greenhouse for the winter along with all his trees. YAY! I am hoping he will help me prune them, fertilize them and just teach me about the overall care of them. Can't wait to pick his brain for sure.

I did some reading last night about them and so far, by accident I have done all the right things. Yippee! Also yesterday while taking their picture I notice these really SHARP THORNS on them, I said to Anthony I didn't know Citrus Fruit Trees had thorns on them. He didn't know that either, but later when I was reading the website said that they have thorns on them to help protect them from predators. It also stated that you can certainly prune them off or just wait and as the tree gets older they will lessen. Interesting, interesting!!

I love that you can always learn something new when it comes to gardening!!!

The Garden is DEAD!

Anthony and I have been holding on to the last of the garden for weeks now. Each night before bed I would say a little prayer that the weather would stay above freezing, well it worked until this past weekend.

As you can see my tomatoes did not survive!!!! It is a sad day at the Cantor House! However, on a happy note while cleaning out one of the beds we discovered that one of my brussel sprout plants has tons of sprouts. WOOHOO!!! I am pretty sure that the sprouts will be the last of this wonderful garden. I have learned so much this year about gardening and how do to it without chemicals. I can't wait to take what I have learned and apply it to my parents garden next year in Washington.