Vermont Clean Up.

11-8-18 VERMONT: I’m here to do the garden clean up, I arrived on Tuesday, Election Day, I voted by mail weeks ago. Notice that I capitalized Election Day, I was very pleased with the Blue Wave, could have been better in Florida, but maybe the re-counts will help. Let the hearings begin!

The trip up in the rain was hard and slow, but the weather has been nice since. Yesterday was windy and today colder, but good working days. I did several winterizing chores yesterday before starting the clean up and continued the clean up today.

I have finished the beds between the house and the pond. Removing all the dormant stalks exposes the stonework for a visual window between now and winter. It will soon be covered with snow, and in the spring the flowers will be growing as the snow melts.

If I don’t do the clean up, the dead stalks and debris get compacted by the snow and ice, which creates a barrier for the new growth. Also some perennials, peonies and phlox for instance, get mildewed over the summer, and the dead stalks need to be removed to get rid of the fungus.

I have dumped four cartloads of debris behind the little barn in the pasture to cover a wet area. I do the same thing every year, but all the debris disappears over the winter and the spot stays wet. I think I have another three days of work, weather permitting.


The garden beds behind the house before clean up, above and below.



After clean up. I'm always surprised by the stone work, which is largely hidden by the plants in the summer and by the snow in the winter.

This window in the fall shows the walls and stairs. In the spring the plants are growing as the snow melts.

Red squirrel enjoys the bird seed that falls to the ground. He/she is very brazen, but can't get on the feeder. Pretty cute.