Gardening for Old Folks (Adaptative)

[jvls1942]

today fall has arrived big time. mid 40's this morning. I really don't want to go outside. but I have to finish the junk metal pile so the junk man can come pick it up.
My next project is going to be canning apple pie filling. a friend gave us three varieties of apples. I want to make a 7 quart batch of each. 21 pies should be enough for awhile.
If there are any apples left over, I will combine them and make apple sauce.

 

[R2elk]

 

[jvls1942]

well, I got ten quarts of apple pie filling canned.
my goal of 21 fell short. many of the apples were
so small that once I cored them, there was very little
apple left. the deer will enjoy them.
today all necessary work is at a stall.
yesterday I broke one of the forks on the
tractor loader. today I hope to get it fixed.
I need it to lift and move a very heavy steel
framed work table.
then I have some heavy tree branches to move.
I use the forks as a table to saw the branches
with the chainsaw.

 

[cavemanrich]

First frost is about 1 week away here in my zone 5A. I cut some flowers and placed in home vase.
These are Dahlias, with some other weeds mixed in. I have them growing in LARGE container pots.
My question,,,,
My understanding, is,,, Dahlias will not tolerate winter over,, even in the ground in cold zones. In somewhat less cold areas, they do make it, to my understanding.
I intend to take the pots into my Utility room where I winter over my other hanging baskets with geraniums. Problem arises, as the large pots do take up a lot of space, and utility room gets crowded.
Wondering if I kept the pots inside garage, (more room) that does not get colder than about 20°F on short stretches of time ,,, during extreme cold nights. Usually the temps in garage are above freezing, since I keep my chickens there over winter. I do heat occasionally with wood stove to maintain that temp. (just above freezing)
Its not the end of the world,, if the Dahlias bite the dust,,,,,,, but I think they would grow much better in their second year,, already established.
If not,, then I will just buy more root tubers next spring. :
Really like these flower blooms assortment.

 

[TooCheep]

Nice looking flowers. I think Wikipedia does a good job with this one:

Dahlias grow naturally in climates that do not experience frost (the tubers are hardy to USDA Zone 8), consequently they are not adapted to withstand sub-zero temperatures. However, their tuberous nature enables them to survive periods of dormancy, and this characteristic means that gardeners in temperate climates with frosts can grow dahlias successfully, provided the tubers are lifted from the ground and stored in cool yet frost-free conditions during the winter. Planting the tubers quite deep (10 – 15 cm) also provides some protection.

 

[jvls1942]

Nice flowers, . I like looking at them,
I never got into planting too many, though.
It takes too much weeding to keep the
beds looking nice. I grow peoneas because
I can mow around them,

 

[jvls1942]

looks like the growing season is over
for us here.
possible snow today and even more
of a chance tomorrow.
but the ground is not frozen so the snow will melt.
I finally got a chance to work in the shop. I am
making a portable chain saw vise. I will post pictures
when it is done. it is a design I dreamed up. nothing
on utube to get ideas from.

 

[Molpet]

Squash have been frosted and the tomatoes that are caged. There's volunteer tomatoes on the ground, in a different height garden up the hill, that haven't been frosted yet.

 

[wyoDreamer]

The garden is done. Froze this morning. I need to get out and pull all the weeds and prep it for winter.

 

[bruceha2000]

I've been cleaning up the garden since last week. About time to get some garlic planted