Much of the last few weeks was preparation for a yard sale, when we finally cleaned out both the garage and (gasp!) attic. Nasty, nasty business - especially the attic, since it's been about 18 years since we moved in, and it just became a "let's put it in the attic" type of place since then.
As far as the garden - there's not much left, though we've yet to have a true killing frost. My fall garden experiment (Brussels Sprouts, lettuce, beets, arugula, spinach) was knocked off-track by deer. I've got a few eggplant plants awaiting a move into the garage (I've not harvested fruit suitable for saving seed from them); same with a few large potted hot peppers. I am about ready to say goodbye to my dozens and dozens of small potted ornamental hot peppers. All that will be left after that is digging up/potting some tender perennials that we want to keep (Lantana), and relocation of other tender plants in pots into the garage for a winter sleep (ferns, walking iris, geraniums, herbs). That takes care of the driveway and deck. As far as our big side yard garden, all we are doing is laying down a thick layer of leaves, as they fall from the trees and are chopped and gathered during our lawn mowing.
I do have two small pots of growth - snapdragons and pansies - in an effort to get ahead of these heat-sensitive flowers, which will go out in the late winter/early spring. But here it is mid-November, and it won't be long before I start next year's veggie plants (probably end of January for slow growing hot peppers). Amazing.
This leaves the office/computer tasks that are so easily put off - planning for next year's garden, wrapping up the dwarf project and planning ahead for next season's efforts, continuing to work on my book. I am searching far and wide for some discipline!
One recent highlight is that four more of our new Dwarf varieties are now available, thanks to the efforts two of our Alaska volunteers and a Georgia friend that created sufficient numbers of seeds for the introduction. The varieties are Perth Pride, Sleeping Lady, Yukon Quest and Iditarod Red - all for sale from Tatiana's TOMATObase. These four varieties join the 9 that were released last year - so our little all volunteer, all amateur dwarf tomato breeding project is doing pretty well for itself!