Marigold Harvest and So Much More

Marigold Harvest and So Much More

With an impending hard freeze I've been 
harvesting all the tender plants I can.
I really should say Gary is harvesting them all for me.
Marigold flowers when soaked give off a beautiful yellow dye.
Can't wait to make my own dye from these flowers.
Check out this blog post with a pictorial of the dye process.

Gary picked all our green tomatoes and tiny peppers,
and pulled up all the tomato and pepper plants.
With a hard freeze the leaves will turn into a mushy mess.
He also picked the last of the sulfur cosmos flowers.

I did clip all the basil left and made two batches of pesto.
Today Gary will put straw around the rose bush roots,
also around the potted rosemary plants,
and under the hardy gardenia plants.

It's a mad dash to get all this done before the end of the day.
If you're expecting a hard freeze and have had no rain
be sure to give your plants a good soaking
so they don't desiccate from the wind and cold.
Right after watering Gary will disconnect all our irrigation.
Hopefully we haven't forgotten anything.