Fall and Winter Watering by Donna Duffy

We are on track for one of the warmer autumns on record. In addition, we know that Colorado winters can have long spells of dry, warm and windy weather. During the cold weather seasons, pay special attention to weather and soil conditions and provide supplemental water to keep the root systems of trees, shrubs, lawns and perennials alive and healthy. Here are some tips to help them survive the winter.

Your Lawn: Don't Mow It. Eat It!

Author, photographer, landscape designer and environmentalist, Rosalind Creasy has widely influenced the course of domestic gardening over the past 30 years. She kept the then barely flickering flame burning in her best-selling 1982 book, "Edible Landscaping." Newly reissued and substantially reworked, the book introduced a new style of vegetable gardening while rejecting the prevailing model of the garden as a male-dominated holdover from the farm, with discrete crops in rows.

Read the whole story here!

Late Autumn - Up Close by Donna Duffy

Typha latifolia, commonly known as Cattail

Take advantage of the last warm(ish) days of Autumn by taking a hike in the foothills. On a recent morning on North Table Mountain outside of Golden, it was so quiet that all I could hear was the dry grasses rustling in the wind and birds in the distance. The morning light made everything golden. But don't delay - soon this will be a wintry scene!

Squanto, the First Thanksgiving Gardener

Enjoy this story about Squanto, who helped provide the Pilgrims with their first Thanksgiving feast.

Happy Thanksgiving From the Jeffcogardener Crew!

Holiday Plant Care

You are bound to get them, dear gardener.  Blooming house plants are a favorite to get and give this time of year.

Carol O'Meara from Boulder County Extension gives us these tips for caring for those holiday plants. Make them last!

Eagle vs. Turkey: America's First Bird Controversy

Did you know that the favorite bird of choice for Thanksgiving dinner was almost our National Symbol?  Would we be eating bald eagles instead had it been chosen?  Here's a great article about the controversy between Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and Benjamin Franklin about just what bird would hold this esteemed place in our history.

Read about it here.

Gardens of Recovery and Defiance; Thoughts on This Veterans' Day by Elaine Lockey

Photo courtesy of National Guard Magazine

In the winter of 1916, poet Wilfred Owen wrote the poem “Exposure” while freezing in a trench during WWI. While in such a horrific place his mind sought out visions of nature and warmth.

“We cringe in holes, back on forgotten dreams, and stare, snow-dazed,
Deep into grassier ditches. So we drowse, sun-dozed,
Littered with blossoms trickling where the blackbird fusses,
-Is that why we are dying?”

Owen was killed in 1918 after suffering extreme “shell shock” on the Western Front. Combat stress reaction (CSR), in the past known as shell-shock, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can sometimes be treated through special gardens that give patients a place to feel safe and relaxed.

Fresh or Canned This Year? by Mary Small

In the early years of our marriage this was always the question about the yearly pumpkin pie.  My husband had fond memories of fresh pumpkin pies his mother made.  I did not share them; the one pie my mother made fresh was, in her words, “a disaster.”  So if I made a pie, it was always from canned pumpkin.

This year, my colleague, Carol O’Meara, of Boulder County Extension, asked me to help judge pies made from several different types of pumpkins that grow in Colorado.  I love pumpkin pie, so this was an easy “yes”.  Then I thought back to Mom’s “disaster” and greeted the event somewhat apprehensively.

Cotoneaster Gives Color Through the Fall by Heirloom Fan

When we moved into our home, we found a low growing woody shrub in the back yard that provided color and interest for several seasons. If you have not tried a Cotoneaster in your landscape, you might want to consider it.

Cotoneaster is from the Rosaceae family, which includes apples, peaches, plums, crabapples and 250 other common landscape plants. There are several varieties of Cotoneaster, including those that are deciduous and evergreen types. Some of these are even used in bonsai applications.

Big City Trees Discourage Crime!

Yet another reason to plant trees!

Along with energy conservation and storm-water reduction, scientists may
soon be adding crime-fighting to the list of benefits that urban trees
provide.

Read the whole story here!

What to do with all those leaves? by Donna Duffy

We have had weeks to enjoy the beautiful fall foliage, and now we have to figure out what to do with all those leaves carpeting the lawn and yard. It’s best not to leave a thick layer of leaves on the grass for several reasons. A thick layer can block sunlight, reducing turf growth because of the shading effect. That thick layer will also hold moisture, increasing the potential for turf disease. Here area some options for managing all those leaves and keeping them out of the landfills.

Preparing Your Sprinkler System for Winter

We had our first light frost in the metro area.  That means it's time.  Time to prepare your sprinkler system for winter:

Quick Facts....

• Prepare your sprinkler system for winter by expelling all the water from the irrigation system and equipment.
• Do not trust manual or automatic drain valves. The system should be blown
  out with pressurized air.
• To determine the best sized compressor for your system, know the gallons
  per minute (GPM) that flow through each zone.
• If your irrigation system is attached to domestic water, it is required to
  have a backflow prevention device.

Read the rest here!

Ruth Stout's Garden

Her methods are unconventional but they work!  Wonder what our Extension agents would say??

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