Here is an old photo of me from the summer of 1956, hugging my best friend. We are under the bright sun of a Vermont summer and the little boy in me wishes it was possible to go back there again... #ThrowbackThursday #gardening #NewEngland

With the gardening season done and all the tools cleaned and tucked away, BeetBear is leaving me on my own to get all the apple trees pruned over the winter. He's napping by the fire with instructions to wake him up for the Wassailing later on. #BeetBear #gardening #Allotment #Apples #Orchard #NewEngland

Have just completed entering my ProjectFeederWatch data for week #1. This is my 7th season reporting and keeps me busy during the gardening off-season. This week we saw 105 individuals across 21 species. The data may be viewed here:

Project FeederWatch - Count Summary

Nothing much unusual to report, just the common birds we see frequently, although the Juncos have returned just in time for the first count this year. #ProjectFeederWatch #birds #NewEngland #gardening #autumn

For pity's sake, NOW the local TV station is offering "Leaf Blowing" forecasts. Can we just say NO please? Not a moment's peace outside anymore. #gardening #Allotment #NewEngland #autumn

It's time to change hats from gardening to birding. Its ProjectFeederWatch season once again. If you aren't familiar with it, check out their web site.

Project FeederWatch

Homepage - Project FeederWatch

Turn Your Love of Observing Wildlife into New Discoveries FeederWatch engages people in observing birds and mammals that visit backyards, nature ce...

It's a worthwhile project. BeetBear has our supplies ready and I've got the clipboard. We'll report our sightings each week. BTW, the Juncos are already back. Haven't seen them since April. 😀 #ProjectFeederWatch #gardening #Allotment #BeetBear #birds #NewEngland

I wonder if he was speeding or went through a stop sign? 😀 #NewEngland #LocalNews

Spent the afternoon pruning my ~60yr-old blueberry bushes. Cut out the old/dead wood to make room for the newer growth. Pruning the 40 ft (10meter) row of bushes turned into a large pile of brush, turned into ½ cart of chips, turned into some mulch around some of the apple trees. Very satisfying. 😀 #gardening #Allotment #NewEngland #zone6b

I'm still here, just not much to report these days. The temperature went down to 32°F (0°C) this morning & stayed there for 3 hours. The few flowers I have left seemed to survive ok so they get to go on as long as they want. ALSO, the raspberries incredibly are still fruiting & flowering & the bees are still visiting. Pictures show milkweed, Calibrachoa, Cleome, and raspberries, all still chugging along. Got to go prune the blueberries. #gardening #Allotment #NewEngland #BloomScrolling

Came home with 200 pounds (91kg) of pelletized lime and spent the morning applying it on the 4800ft² (446 meter²) garden bed. This comes out to be roughly 40 pounds per 1000ft² or about 20 kilos per 100 meter². (don't judge me if the math is off). Photos show the labeling on the bags and % contents. Also a shot of what a handful of the stuff looks like. I know it says "Lawn Lime" but I wouldn't waste it on grass.😀 @npub1nw7c...g0ek @a place for allotment folk #gardening #Allotment #NewEngland #zone6b

Did some pH checking around the garden this morning as I am preparing to apply some lime before winter sets in. Most of the growing areas currently reading about pH 6.0. Even the soil in the carrot pot was the same. The water in the rain barrel read pH 5.5. I'm off to get some pelletized lime. 😀 @npub1nw7c...g0ek @a place for allotment folk #gardening #Allotment #NewEngland #zone6b